1. It’s hard to tell if you’re homesick, or just sick in general
If you’re the kind of person who gets stressed by big life changes, or if your parents are a big source of support, feeling down your first year of college may mean you’re homesick, or need a little more time to adjust. It can be hard to know when you have crossed over from normal adjustment stress to something more.
2. You wonder if you picked the wrong college
Applying and getting accepted to a good college is a long, arduous road. Feeling like an emotional basket case after you get there may leave you questioning the entire effort, wondering if you’ve made a terrible mistake.
3. You can’t figure out whether you’re not cut out for college, or if you’ll feel better about school when the depression clears
Being depressed during the first year of college can leave you feeling like you’re not “college material,” especially if your depression results in missing classes, poor grades, or fantasies of dropping out.
4. You’ve been told college is the time of your life, and for you, it isn’t
You have probably been told college would be the best years of your life. You would love it! Now that you’re depressed, you can feel like the only person on campus who isn’t living the party life.
5. You’re lonelier than you’ve ever been
When started college, you left almost all your friends from childhood behind. Now they are busy stating new lives someplace else and you’re surrounded by a sea of strangers.
6. If college doesn’t work out, your entire life plan is down the drain
You had a plan: You’d go to college, major in your passion, and end up transitioning to your dream job after an internship and a couple of entry level jobs. If you can’t get through college, what does the future loo like.
7. You don’t have an independent skill set to get you through
Young adulthood is all about developing a life-long skill set for coping. Getting depressed at the start of that process, before your toolbox of skills is full, can leave you more overwhelmed than you’d feel if the depression came a few years later.
8. You don’t have a financial safety net for yourself other than your parents
You haven’t had time to build a little nest egg for a rainy day. If you need time off from school, you’ll probably have to go back home.
9. You’re afraid to scare your parents by admitting you’re having trouble
Your parents were ecstatic when you got into college and went off to live your dreams. You’re afraid they’ll be disappointed and worried to find out you’re having trouble.
10. You think if you move back home, you’ll never be a functional adult
Returning to your childhood bedroom can feel like going back into childhood and losing your chance to start a life of your own.