My first semester was a blast. I made new friends, hit it off really well with my roommate, enjoyed my newfound freedom, and was excited about my classes. Everything a college experience should be.

By second semester, I wasn’t excited about my classes anymore. I chalked this up to realizing that I didn’t want to be pre-med. Then I began binge drinking. I passed this off as part of my social environment. Fairly soon, I began feeling lonely; I found myself hooking up with random girls, though I told myself it was ‘experimenting.’

Eventually, I wound up not even enjoying my friends, unable to focus on studying, and generally apathetic and lethargic. After going home, my parents immediately saw what this was-depression-though I refused to admit it to myself.

It’s a good thing my parents all but forced me to see a psychiatrist. Being depressed, I was too disinterested in my own welfare to get help. On the rare days where I had some vague suspicion that something was wrong, I couldn’t motivate myself to do anything about it.

In total, I spent a year depressed. It took a while to find the right mix of drugs to correct my neurochemistry, but when my psychiatrist hit on the right cocktail, the effect was unbelievable. It was just like out of the movie “Pleasantville.” Color sprang into the world, and it felt literally like I was living for the first time.

I wish everybody had the same opportunities to get treatment that I did. Unfortunately, there’s still a stigma attached to depression, and many people go undiagnosed. That’s got to change. Roughly 1 in 10 adults are depressed in any given year. We need to start thinking of depression as what is: a biochemical imbalance, not a personal failing.

So look out for signs of depression in your friends, and make them get some help if you suspect they’re depressed. Look out for sleeping problems, changes in eating patterns, difficulty concentrating, pervasive sadness, low energy level, suicidal thoughts, and disinterest in activities. The sooner depression is treated, the sooner that the depressed person can go back to fully enjoying life.

We’ve got great resources for depression (and other psychiatric disorders) on campus. Uncle Joe’s does peer counseling, and Student Health and Counseling Services has psychologists and psychiatrists to treat you. Your health fee covers eight annual visits to a psychologist, and further sessions are $10. Appointments with the psychiatrist also have a $10 co-pay. Ask your Residential Advisor for more info.

Although I’m glad to be out of depression, it was a worthwhile experience. That detachment was helpful in critically evaluating my life and goals. I had what I call the ‘courage of depression,’ where I tried new things because I didn’t care what others thought. That includes writing for Student Life, which has been one of the best things I’ve done with my college years.

It also included switching majors from biomedical engineering to philosophy; my parents were harder-pressed to see the silver lining out of depression than I was.

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Roman is a senior in Arts & Sciences and is the senior Forum editor for Student Life. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].

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