The term “depression” can be confusing to define because it is often used to describe normal emotional reactions.

Luckily there are forms of depression that can be clinically treated, but unfortunately this illness may be hard to recognize because its symptoms are easily attributed to other causes.

Iowa State’s Student Counseling Services helped students determine whether or not they are clinically depressed during National Depression Screening Day. Last Thursday students were able to be tested for depression at the counseling service.

Dr. Robert Patterson, the director of student health, said people tend to deny the existence of depression by saying things like, “she has a right to be depressed. Look what she is going through.” This attitude fails to recognize that people can go through tremendous hardships and stress without developing depression, he said.

“It is important to remember depression is a potentially fatal disease causing a great deal of morbidity, lack of enjoyment in life,” he said. “Those who fall victim can and should seek treatment.”

College students need to be careful when trying to diagnose themselves or others as depressed, he said. Depression is an illness, not a case of the “blues.”

To test students, the counseling service uses a nationwide test known as Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). BDI contains 21 items that assess cognitive, behavioral, affective and somatic aspects of depression. Each question provides a response of 0 (not present) to 3 (severe).

This test allows counselors to determine how serious each subject’s depression is.

Following testing the students are signed up for free counseling sessions, or referred to Student Health for medication.

“Students are more sophisticated today, they are not as reluctant to come in for counseling,” said Pat Anderson, co-coordinator of the Career Exploration Program. “I think that awareness has increased, and you are not considered ‘crazy’ if you seek professional help.”

Although student problems are more serious than ever, universities are not populated by emotional basket cases, she said.

“Depression is very common, but by no means a dramatic epidemic, my guess is 10 percent of students at ISU suffer from depression. Luckily, it is not as severe with the young population,” Anderson said.

According to the Annual Review of Psychology, distressed college students are both younger and less depressed than patients with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. The quality of college students’ relationships and the stress they experience are different from those who are clinically depressed.

“The college system is built around making people’s sphincters tight,” Patterson said. “It is a matter of how each person handles stress. It is distinguishing between a ‘transient funk,’ a bad hair day for example, to the situation of constantly seeing a brick wall and finding no way around it.”

Research has shown there is a genetic influence that puts some people in a predisposed position to depression, Patterson said.

He said between 80 and 90 percent of all depressed people respond to treatment and nearly all depressed people who receive treatment see at least some relief from their symptoms.