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ANN ARBOR,
MI - The University of Michigan
will host the nation's first major conference focused on depression
in college students, on March 6 and 7 at the Michigan League in
Ann Arbor, MI.
 The
event will explore current knowledge on depression and related disorders
in college undergraduate and graduate students, and the best approaches
for prevention, detection and treatment. It is co-sponsored by the
U-M Depression Center
- the only center in the nation devoted to research, treatment and
education on all forms of depression - and the U-M Rackham School
of Graduate Studies.
Educators,
students, researchers, mental health advocates and professionals,
and the media are welcome to attend. Space is limited and registration
is required; a registration fee will be charged for all participants
except students and journalists. For more information, visit www.rackham.umich.edu/DepressionConf
and www.depressioncenter.org.
Speakers will
include depression experts from the U-M and other academic institutions,
mental health advocates, and students who have dealt with depression
and bipolar disorder in their own lives. The event will feature
many workshops and discussion groups, as well as panel sessions,
displays, a video documentary featuring students with depression,
and a performance by Mentality, a U-M student advocacy group that
explores mental health issues.
Three noted
authors whose books address their own experiences with depression
will give keynote addresses open to the public: National Book Award
winner Andrew Solomon, author of "The Noonday Demon";
Meri Nana-Ama Danquah, who wrote "Willow Weep for Me: A Black
Woman's Journey Though Depression", and Kathy Cronkite, author
of "On the Edge of Darkness: Conversations About Conquering
Depression", which features interviews with celebrities who
have depression.
"Awareness
of depression is growing in America, but we have not yet paid enough
attention to the college population, who have both an adolescent's
vulnerability to the onset of depression and nearly adult levels
of independence and stress," explains John Greden, M.D., Executive
Director of the U-M Depression Center. "Recent research confirms
that depression among college students is a neglected problem, and
we must work together to address it."
Adds Earl Lewis,
Ph.D., Dean of the Rackham school, "We hope this conference
will call attention to and work to ease the stigma of depression
on the college campus. We need to learn from one another, and adapt
the best practices from each campus to achieve earlier detection
and effective intervention, including suicide prevention."
Greden and
Lewis also hope the event will help identify barriers that stand
in the way of implementation of effective strategies; formulate
public policy interventions to overcome these barriers; and catalyze
a coordinated, comprehensive approach to improve student mental
health.
Among the topics
to be addressed in the two full days of the event are: recognition
of depression; issues facing student mental health services; innovative
strategies now being tried at the U-M and other campuses; public
policy approaches that may address current needs; and special issues
for students of different ethnicities, nationalities and genders.
A book-signing
associated with the conference will be held on March 6 at 6:15 p.m.,
at the Michigan League. Solomon and Cronkite will be joined by Patrick
Corrigan, Ph.D., the Executive Director of the University of Chicago
Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, whose book on the stigma
of mental illnesses is called "Don't Call Me Nuts".
The conference
is being planned by a committee co-chaired by Greden and Lewis,
with faculty, staff and student participants from the U-M Depression
Center and Medical School; Rackham School of Graduate Studies; Division
of Student Affairs, including the Counseling and Psychological Services
office and the University Health Service; School of Nursing; School
of Dentistry; School of Social Work; College of Literature, Science,
and the Arts; School of Art and Design; School of Education; and
the Institute for Human Adjustment.
Background information on college students and depression
According to
the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 18.8 million
American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the nation's population
age 18 and older, have a depressive disorder. Depression most often
begins in late childhood, in adolescence, or in early adulthood.
Recent research
on depression and suicide in college students has begun to raise
the public's awareness of the issue. For example, the American College
Health Association in 2000 reported that 10 percent of college students
- 12.8 percent of women and 6.2 percent of men - had been diagnosed
with depression sometime in their lives. A 2002 national survey
found that more than 80 percent of the 274 directors of campus counseling
centers surveyed said they thought the number of students with severe
psychological disorders had risen over the last five years.
Meanwhile,
a recently published study from Kansas State University found that
from 1989 to 2001, the percentage of students treated for depression
doubled, as did the percentage of suicidal students.
Experts suspect
that the college years are an especially vulnerable time for students
prone to depression because of a potent mix of the hormonal and
neurological changes of late adolescence, and the stressors of college
life. These stressors include independent living, new social situations,
increased academic demands, financial responsibilities, and increased
awareness of sexual identity and orientation.
Written
by: Kara Gavin
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