Stressed and Depressed

By Kathleen Holder

In his sophomore year, Daniel Perez got so depressed he became suicidal.

“I went through a breakup, stress, financial stuff. My roommate situation wasn’t that great,” said Perez, now a graduating senior in American studies. “There were times I didn’t want to live—many times.”

He turned to peer counselors at The House and a psychologist at the campus Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), which helped. However, he said a family crisis—his father’s stroke—and his discovery of Buddhism turned him around. “Suddenly, I knew what was important in my life.”

When his father, then 45, suffered a stroke, Perez took a quarter off to go home to San Diego to care for him. While there, he read books about Buddhism and found “a little bit of enlightenment.”

Perez believes that depression isn’t uncommon among his fellow students, and in fact, like other campuses nationwide, UC Davis is experiencing a surge in students seeking mental-health services and an increase in those taking psychiatric medication.

Close to 3,000 students sought help this year at CAPS, said director Emil Rodolfa. That represents a 50 percent increase from five years ago. The number of those needing to see a psychiatrist, who can prescribe medication, jumped 150 percent over the same period.

While part of that increase may reflect the reduced stigma associated with psychotherapy, males are still often reluctant to seek help.

Seventy percent of CAPS’ clients are women, up from 60 percent in 1988. Recent suicides, primarily by senior or graduate male students, have campus officials searching for ways to reach men who are in crisis.

“One of the major reasons students come to CAPS is they are depressed,” Rodolfa said. “They feel like their world isn’t what they would like it to be.

“They come here [to UC Davis] with high hopes, big dreams. And by the time they reach the end of their academic career here, somehow those dreams have been shattered”—often because they haven’t progressed in the way they expected or because of the loss of a close relationship, he added.

While being a college student has always been stressful, students today face new pressures due to rising fees, an uncertain job market, high expectations of parents and themselves, and an eagerness for recognition. This generation seems less secure and more susceptible to criticism, according to therapists and others who work closely with students.

Although the Millennial Generation is often described as optimistic and confident, surveys of incoming UC Davis freshmen indicate self-esteem is dropping.

Among first-year students surveyed this year, 52 percent of men and 47 percent of women rated their emotional health as above average, down from 66 percent and 63 percent, respectively, in 1986.

Campus psychologist Arnold De La Cruz said he sees more students who look outside themselves, often to parents and other parent-like figures in their life, for their sense of self-worth.

“There’s a lot of pressure for them to achieve and to make it,” said De La Cruz. “They feel that they need to be perfect. They need to have and do everything. When they don’t get an A, they feel like they’re not good enough. We have pressured them so much to achieve, sometimes at the expense of themselves.”

CAPS has responded with programs to help students cope with stress—including stress-reduction workshops, online self-help brochures, and a Mind/Body Gym where students can listen to relaxation CDs, sit in a robotic massage chair and talk with peer counselors. CAPS also provides training to help faculty and staff identify and respond to distressed students.

Jennifer Pollak, a psychology intern, said she sees hopefulness in students who seek help. “They maybe don’t understand themselves, what they’re feeling, but there’s hope that they can figure it out here.”

Making a difference

Paying the way

Plays well with others

Helicopter parents

A shift to the left

In the spirit

Beyond black and white

Born to be wired

Where’s my job?

Return to introduction

Kathleen Holder is associate editor of UC Davis Magazine. David Owen and Joanna
Robinson contributed to these stories. Photos by Debbie Aldridge and Rachel Van Blankenship.