Written by Adit Selvaraj
Living in the dorms can be very stressful for students with depression, and I must say I feel for those depressed students who are forced to live there out of necessity. Formerly an on-campus student, I reneged on that lifestyle and moved back home after a detrimental experience.
Since my home is in Weston, which is only 20 minutes away from the Nova Southeastern University campus, I thought it was stupid that my parents suggested I stay at the dorm for my college career, but I obliged after recalling the exciting portrayal of college life I saw in the media.
Living in the dorms was fine for the first few weeks but, by October, I found that I was at an all-time low. The combination of my preexisting depression and new independence meant that I was anxious all the time. I didn’t know how to make my own decisions and often made impulsive ones. It was almost impossible to manage even with the antidepressants I took every day.
I found myself binging on food to deal with my anxiety, then ordering extra portions of food due to the generosity of the meal plan. I tried eating salad at Greens to rectify this, but I still felt hungry and needed substantial portions to function. My weight increased, and my exhaustion, due to my lack of a sleep schedule, made me unmotivated and unable to work it off.
I slept constantly and found myself going straight to class, eating, and then sleeping for an inordinate amount of time in the afternoon and staying up late at night. Sleep schedule completely ruined, I had to sleep more to try balancing it out, leading me to miss class and pay the repercussions in terms of my grades.
I tried recreating the quintessential college experience I saw in the movies, but even though NSU is a relatively small school, I found myself drowning in a sea of students and not knowing who to talk to. The friends I did make ended up being commuters and it was very hard to coordinate my schedule with them to do things like study or go out on weekends. The boredom led me to start thinking suicidal thoughts and become addicted to social media
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NSU does have a lot of resources for the depressed student, but depression often leaves students unable and unmotivated to care about themselves and reach out to the appropriate avenues for help.
Residential assistants are often the closest people physically for most students who are in the dorms, often just a few doors down, but it can be hard for the depressed students to reach out due to their social anxiety and reluctance to confront their problems head on. It is also easy for those depressed students to be irritated with their RA’s chipper attitude and try to avoid contact as much as possible, like I did.
Studies show that I was not alone in having a detrimental dorm experience. In 2011, the American College Health Association National Health Assessment found that 30 percent of students enrolled in traditional two-year or four-year institutions reported, “They were so depressed it was difficult to function.”
Before moving into the dorms, know yourself and what you can handle. Don’t feel like you have to live in the dorms to get the most out of your college experience. Know what resources NSU has, make sure you’re ready to be independent. Personally I would not recommend the dorm experience.
If you ever feel depressed or need to talk, Nova Southeastern University offers 10 free sessions with a psychologist at Henderson Student Counseling located in the Bookstore plaza. Additionally, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255
