Study Finds Increased Stress and Depression for College First-Years

When it comes to the dealing with the stress of rigorous academics, the high cost of education and the pressure to succeed in today's highly competitive job market, college students just aren't coping.

A new study from UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute reports that the emotional health of first-year college students has hit an all-time low.Rift Gold In a survey of more than 200,000 freshmen at 279 colleges and universities only 52 percent of students rated their emotional health as high or above average. That number is down 3.4 percent from 2009, and dropped a whopping 12 percent from 1985, when 64 percent of students gave themselves high marks for mental health.

Fewer female students reported high levels of mental health than men (46 percent compared to 59 percent). Study author Sylvia Hurtado said in a USA Today article that she believes this is due to the fact that men have better coping skills when it comes to dealing with stress.

Dr. Aaron Ellington, a psychiatrist who works with children and adolescents at University Hospitals Case Medical Center,RIFT Platinum says he is not so sure that college men are actually better at handling mental health issues. "Women more easily admit to mental health issues," he told AOL Health. "I would question the assumption that men are better at 'working off' stress. Men and women have different issues, but women are more likely to admit that there are issues in the first place," he said.

Concerns that college students' emotional problems will negatively influence time management skills and good decision-making when it comes to drugs and alcohol have administrators worried.rift gold Ellington agrees that this is very possible. "Most colleges and universities have counseling centers, but how well they advertise the services is questionable," says Ellington. "If no one knows about it, what good does it do? At some schools you only hear about special services at orientation. Schools need to let incoming freshmen know that counseling is free and easily accessible. It should be as prominent as posters for joining a fraternity or sorority."

Ellington says that further studies need to be done in order to determine whether the increase in emotional dissatisfaction is actually significant. He points to the fact that the education system has changed significantly over the past 25 years -- and not necessarily in a positive way.RIFT Platinum "Fewer dollars for education can increase stress on students," he said. He also points out that social pressures -- in the form of bullying -- have become more public with the use of social networking sites like Facebook.

"The types of problems young people are talking about in my practice are the same," he says, "though the avenues have changed with the times."

"For as long as we can remember, students have dealt with bullying, they've gotten involved with drugs. The drugs may change, TERA Goldbut the behaviors haven't. In the 1950's and 1960's people didn't believe we had these problems, but the truth is we just didn't have a name for them. It doesn't mean that these problems didn't exist."