DeKALB | Over the past 20 years, the frequency of reported mental disorders afflicting college students has increased.

“The term ‘mental disorder’ really refers to a wide range of emotional problems,” said Richard Long, psychologist for the Counseling and Student Development Center. “The standards are bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, depression, eating disorders, etc. Most common are the adjustment disorders.”

According to the National Institute of Mental Health’s Web site, www.nimh.nih.gov, “an estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.”

“The Campus Crisis,” an article published by Psychology Today, says the increase could be related to a number of reasons. According to the article, most mental disorders peak at the end of adolescence, the time when students start college.

“College is a particularly vulnerable situation for many students,” Long said. “It’s a time of moving away from adolescence and into adulthood and developing a sense of identity.”

At NIU, the Counseling and Student Development Center sees more than 800 students each year on an individual basis, and all of the department’s functions reach more than 8,400 individuals, or one out of every three students.

“Our experience here [at the Counseling and Student Development Center] is pretty consistent with what we’ve been seeing nationwide,” Long said. “The number of people acknowledged being depressed has doubled in the last 18 to 20 years. Students who acknowledge having had suicidal thoughts have actually tripled nationwide since 1988.”

Someone experiencing extreme “winter blues,” or depression experienced in reaction to the changing seasons, could actually be suffering from a mental disorder known as seasonal affective disorder. According to the Cleveland Clinic’s Health Information Center’s Web site, between four and six percent of the U.S. population suffers from the disorder.

There is a lot that students can do to help. Long said everyone should educate themselves on the symptoms, which are available on the Counseling and Student Development Center’s Web site, www.niu.edu/csdc/.

“The key thing is to take action early and get back on track,” said Long. “Talk to someone. That’s why our office exists.”

Dan Stone is a Campus Reporter for the Northern Star. Campus Reporter Rachel Gorr contributed to this article.