This is the second part in a two-part feature concerning student depression in the winter months.

So, you failed Statistics, didn't get an interview with Morgan Stanley and your boyfriend took a permanent vacation. Complaints by students "feeling depressed" often elicit a range of peer responses ranging from stigma to careless dismissal, but few can say they consider these comments symptoms of a serious medical condition requiring treatment.

"Depression stands in the middle ground between something specific and scientific and something that...anyone has to be wary about, a synonym for being stressed out," Nicholas K. Davis '98, Room 13 co-director says.

Davis notes that Room 13, which offers 24-hour counseling to students, is an easy starting place for those who suspect they may have a problem with depression and don't know where to turn first.

"People like the fact that they can come for one night [to] talk about their problems without it being a big deal," says Davis.

Less severe depression is more prevalant among the 18-22 age bracket, but Davis says depression among college students is often a root malady connected to other mental illnesses such as anorexia nervosa or bi-polar manic depression.

Even those students in need of treatment for depression alone may suffer from a more severe type of illness requiring prescription treatment. Although most students won't need prescription drugs to cure their blues, those who suspect they have a problem should find out just how serious it is.

"Depression is common to human beings...it is very normal, ordinary experience, says Dr. Charles Ducey, director of the Bureau of Study Council.

Ducey's own theory concerning depression is that it stems from a considerable loss--you haven't made it off the bench this season, your girlfriend's been spending way too much time at her Italian TF's office hours," or your bank account has a negative balance that rivals the national deficit.

According to Ducey, depression occurs when people internalize a specific loss, blaming themselves for problems that are beyond their personal control. For example, he says a depressed individual might feel that they are "a worthless person...because they broke up with their boyfriend or didn't go out this weekend."

Although some students, such as Tim D. Hirzel '00 see depression as problem that doesn't really happen here, the situation may be more complex on campus that it appears.

"I don't think people here take the time of day to be depressed, "Hirzel says.

Regardless of when and to what degree, most students, unlike Hirzel, agree that depression among the student body is more widespread that it appears. For many people, admitting that they feel depressed is often difficult as a result of the negative stigma, the sense of shame linked to mental illness in general.

Treating Students, Not Just Depression

At the first meeting of the informal support group she recently founded for students with mental illnesses on campus, Alison D. Kent '99-00 said she was struck by the fact that students of every race, from every concentration, class, and house were openly discussing their mental illnesses for the first time.