Last week, a group seeking to raise awareness about the prevalence of suicide and severe depression spread backpacks outside of Novack in a symbolic reference to the 1,100 college students who committed suicide last year. Unfortunately, this figure does not even begin to describe the toll that such extreme depression takes on the afflicted and those around them. Modern society has made great strides towards bringing issues of mental health out into the open. However, there remains a taboo on the discussion of depression among our friend groups and families. As a result, many among us are caught off-guard by revelations that close friends are going through the trials of severe depression. Greater vigilance on the part of students could prove crucial to saving peers who are tormented by depression.
Suicide constitutes the most extreme expression of desperation, but while the decision to take one's own life is obviously tragic, it is important to remember that many of those suffering from depression may never engage in dramatic displays of self-harm. Given that we all have our own good moments and bad moments, it can be easy to dismiss signs of depression as short-term manifestations of stress.
It was in sophomore year of high school that one of my closest friends casually revealed that he had begun seeing a therapist. My friends and I were a bit surprised, but we quickly forgot about the disclosure. We had no idea that our friend would grow up to attempt suicide multiple times, or that his depression would force him to abandon his dream of becoming a biomedical engineer when he had to drop out of college in favor of a full-time therapy program. Would his present situation have turned out differently if his friends and family had taken things more seriously? Maybe, maybe not. Nevertheless, like many other victims of depression, his emotional issues were far more urgent than they first appeared.
Part of the problem lies in a widespread misunderstanding about who is at risk for depression and suicidal thoughts. We are likely to mentally associate teenage depression with broken families, drug use or childhood abuse or trauma. The typical image of a suicide victim is certainly not that of a well-educated and well-off young adult with a close circle of family and friends. My friend has at times stated that he feels a deep sense of shame about his condition because kids who are growing up in idyllic households are not supposed to feel depressed. Of course, that perspective is absurd. Many of the symptoms of depression can be traced to biological causes that are beyond the control of the afflicted. However, our collective inability to associate severe depression with affluent backgrounds causes many depressed individuals to avoid discussion of their issues or to downplay the severity of their problems.
Such concerns are especially relevant to Dartmouth. Our community has no shortage of students who are brilliant, talented and successful. We have a tendency to overlook the fact that many of our peers who appear happy on the surface might secretly be struggling at a college that can be unnervingly fast-paced and highly stressful. Average Dartmouth students are frantically balancing classes and extracurriculars with their social life in the compressed chaos of the quarter system. While such a lifestyle affords us many opportunities, it also means that people can easily be lost in the shuffle. When a consensus seems to exist that everyone at Dartmouth should be happy, it becomes even harder for depressed students to seek help and support from those around them.
Some of our friends, floor-mates and Greek brothers and sisters are undoubtedly embroiled in this silent struggle, and they are probably not receiving the fullest possible measure of support. The onus is therefore on students to reach out to friends and peers who may be having problems with depression.