According to one report, almost half of college students had a mental illness in the previous year. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 73 per cent of college students have experienced a mental health problem. Many have dubbed this epidemic "the college student mental health crisis" because of these alarming numbers. The majority of young people said they enjoyed studying, but many said there was a conflict between their desire to learn and the challenges posed by depression or social problems at school. Many had been humiliated in school and struggled to "fit in" and make friends in their education. Depression or low moods had a negative impact on academic performance. Some identified themselves as "one of the top classes" in class, "a model student," or "the smart one," but their grades plummeted after they were diagnosed or during depressive episodes. When they had "no motivation," "couldn't function," "felt apathetic," or had little or no money, some students found it challenging to concentrate on schoolwork. 1- https://healthtalk.org/depression-and-low-mood/school-studying 2- https://thelightprogram.pyramidhealthcarepa.com/the-college-student-mental-health-crisis/

**Whilst university may be a cause of depression in students, it may be caused by a variety of factors closely linked to university.** - From an environmental psychological perspective (nuture), there is a case to be made that the university environment, i.e, being away from family, increased careers pressure and finding an identity can be depressing. - However, the biological psychologist (nature) perspective acknowledges that students who become depressed at university were already biologically and psychologically predisposed to develop depression, this may have been triggered by university but is not the main cause. - Furthermore, it is hard to determine whether university institutions are the cause of depression as opposed to the educational structures upheld by society.

**Ultimately, while there may be other factors at play, the amount of pressure students face at university has caused rates of depression and anxiety to be alarmingly high.** • A recent [survey](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/mar/05/levels-of-distress-and-illness-among-students-in-uk-alarmingly-high) of almost 38,0000 UK students reported that 50.3% of the students had thoughts of self-harm. This was twice as high as reported rates in 2017, indicating that university pressure is becoming more of a threat to peoples’ mental health and that we are not doing enough to tackle this issue. • The survey also highlighted that students in second and third years were at a “significantly higher risk” than freshers. In this sense, university pressure is causing depression amongst students because as you progress through university the workload and stress increases. • In reflection of these statistics, this [website](https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/advice/student-life/dealing-with-depression-at-university#whattodoifdepressedatuni) provides more information on how depression can affect students and what support is available.