The Board of Regents' approval of the University's new Depression Center in December and the recent launch of a $230,000 University study dedicated to the research of adolescent depression are both significant signs of growing awareness about mental health issues on campus.

Such concern is justified as mental health issues, particularly pertaining to depression and anxiety, have become increasingly severe on campus in recent years, University Health Service officials said.

According to UHS Director Robert Winfield, depression or anxiety accounted for approximately 1,600 student visits to UHS between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001, almost two and a half percent of the total number of visits during that period.

"We're having more people coming and admitting to us that they're depressed or anxious than in previous years," Winfield said.

Although it is generally said that college students are especially susceptible to depression and anxiety disorders due to the unique stresses of university life, Winfield said that these problems might begin to develop before students ever arrive in Ann Arbor.

"It's my general opinion that more students are coming to this university on medications for depression and anxiety than 10 years ago."

LSA sophomore Sarah Young expressed a similar sentiment to Winfield. "I think that there's quite a lot of depression among college students, and most people at this university are not aware of it because of social expectations and because of the expectation that people will just get over it or that they are just stressed. It's perceived as being a symptom of being ambitious rather than depression," Young said.

Statistics from the Division of Student Affairs confirm Winfield's suspicions. The results of recent SERP questionnaires, which are nationally required surveys incoming freshmen fill out about personal history, reveal that a growing number of University freshmen reported having felt both "overwhelmed" and "depressed" in the year leading up to college.

Between 1995 and 1998, the percentage of "overwhelmed" freshmen jumped from a little more than 21 percent to 33 percent, and the number of students feeling depressed rose from 5.6 percent to more than 9 percent, the surveys state.

"I know I feel overwhelmed. I think it's because I'm not used to the competition here," LSA freshman Megan Ritt said.

Since 1998, high rates of mental distress have abated somewhat, but in 2001, the number of freshmen feeling depressed remained about 1.5 percent higher than in 1995. Melinda Matney, Department of Student Affairs senior research associate, said that while such numbers are similar to those of universities across the country, there are some interesting trends unique to the University of Michigan.

"When we look at (the University) as an average, we look like the rest of the nation, but when we separate it into men and women, we have a very different picture," Matney said.

In 2001, 37 percent of female freshmen at the University admitted to feeling overwhelmed, 21 percent more than men and around 10 percent above the national average for students. Similarly, the rate of depression was 3.5 percent higher for women than for men, making startling implications about gender and its effects on mental health.

"Women may feel more ready to acknowledge symptoms of being depressed, but they might also be more likely to have symptoms," Matney said.

These implications become especially serious when considered in conjunction with information outlined in the MCare insurance clinical background on depression. MCare states that in the most serious cases of adult depression, suicide may be the cause of death for as high as 15 percent of patients.

Though many University officials said they view depression as a problem warranting much attention, students disagreed about the extent to which this issue affects their peers.

"I know a lot of people who kind of have minor bouts with depression. For most of the people, it's not that big a deal. They just talk about it with friends and it generally passes," Engineering junior Howard Chang said.

But for those students who suspect that they may be suffering from difficulties with depression or anxiety, the University offers a variety of free and confidential services. Counseling and Psychological Services is the primary and most accessible source for students experiencing mental health complications.

CAPS has a full-time staff of social workers and psychologists that can be reached through the department's website, www.umich.edu/~caps, or through walk-in appointments. In more severe cases, CAPS refers students to a psychiatrist at the University's Riverview Clinic.