Marcos Salazar - Co-founder and Innovation Catalyst at Be Social Change, Social Entrepreneur, Leadership Researcher, & Expert on Psychology of Gen Y & Millennials

Post-College Depression

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In doing research for my book, I was so surprised by how many graduates told me that either they had become depressed or knew of fellow twentysomethings who had developed major depression. Along with depression, many spoke about feeling extremely nervous about how their life was unfolding because they did not know what the next step was and felt like they were simply wondering through their twenties. Because of nature of this transitional period, it is extremely common to struggle with an array of negative emotions that arise from all the challenges they face after college.

Many of the symptoms that twentysomethings said they experience after college are:

- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
- Focusing on failure at motherhood
- Excessive anxiety
- Lack of confidence
- Feeling of being overwhelmed
- Sadness
- Loss of interest in normal activities
- Tiredness
- Feeling like they’re not good enough
- Impaired concentration or memory
- Inability to cope
- Despondency or despair
- Hopelessness

As I spoke with both younger and older twentysomethings, I found that there are two distinct times during the turbulent twenties that graduates are most susceptible to postcollege depression. The first is right after graduation and the reason why this is such a vulnerable period to develop the postcollege blues is because there’s never been any other time in which so many aspects of our lives change so quickly and drastically. From work and career, to finances, to relationships, to coping with creating a new vision of self, so many parts of life can be up in the air. What’s worse is that we have to attend to them all at once, which can overwhelm us and create a feeling of not don’t have any control over the important areas of their lives. 

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Are the Twenties a Time of Crisis?

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This is a question I have been asked quite often and over the past few years there's been talk about how today's postcollege transition will cause you to experience a "quarterlife crisis" during your twenties. Joining the ever-popular adolescent crisis, thirtysomething crisis, and mid-life crisis, if we were to follow this rationale by adding a quarterlife crisis to the list, it would mean our entire life is just one big crisis! More importantly, a crisis by definition is something that is abnormal. People are not supposed to live in crisis mode, but the fact is almost every twentysomething I have spoken to has struggled with adjusting to life after college. The truth is all these feelings of anxiety, stress, and confusion are normal and natural responses to such a major life change. So to call it a crisis is to completely misconstrue what is actually happening. Sure, it is a catchy term to use, but it is inaccurate and I think can potentially cause major harm by making people feel like they are abnormal for having such feelings. This then perpetuates all the negative feelings twentysomethings are feeling because they feel like they are the only ones feeling like this, which of course is exactly the opposite of what I want to do.