Millennials are fast becoming one of the most depressed age groups in the country.
The American College Counseling Association reported in 2012 that, since 2000, there has been a 16-percent increase in mental-health visits on college campuses.
A psychologist for the Washington Post pointed at helicopter parents, a lack of understanding of our generation in the modern media and the stress of college life.
Whatever the cause, this means we need to be taking care of each other. ?This past week, the Divine Nine, the nine historically black fraternities and sororities on campus, gathered in the Hoosier Den to discuss suicide.
The event was part of the Impacting Others Through Awareness week organized by the Gamma Delta chapter of the Iota Phi Theta fraternity.
Gamma Delta had students discuss their own experiences with suicide and depression.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the likelihood of suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts increases for adults 18 to 29 years old, according to a Sept. 16 IDS ?article.
As much as we would like to feel understood as young people, the fact of the matter is it will never really get any easier.
Once we enter the real world, we will be expected to be responsible for our work, our social and personal lives and our potential families. The unfortunate thing is many of us feel unequipped.
According to Forbes, 89 percent of adults between 18 and 29 feel they cannot navigate the economic market, and 32 percent are looking for second jobs.
The increased expectations on millennials leave many feeling suicidal after they fail at something, be it anything from grades to a relationship, according to numerous ?psychological studies.
Moreover, not many older people seem to understand how the increase in depression and suicidal thoughts affect the collective group of our generation.
We are the only ones who understand each other. Some can navigate with relative ease, but we are ?leaving young people behind.
We need to be able to discuss mental health on campus.
We need to bring more awareness to the resources available, such as the Counseling and Psychological Services on campus — which, by the way, offer two free sessions for all students each semester.
If we want to actively bring awareness to the mental health problems that afflict a significant portion of millennials, we can’t expect the world to do it for us.
We need to actively engage with each other. Gamma Delta’s program could be the start of a good and necessary movement on campus to protect and help students in need.
ewenning@indiana.edu
