Post-Grad Depression And How To Take Care Of Your Mental Health

Many people associate graduating from college with a period of joy and celebration in a person’s life. After four (or more) years of work, you have finally crossed the finish line and earned a diploma! College graduation can be linked to new beginnings and exciting opportunities. However, it can also lead to high levels of stress, which can potentially heighten the risk of developing various mental health conditions, including depression. In many cases, depression can be treated with lifestyle changes and therapy.

Signs your emotional state could indicate a mental health condition

Post-grad life can be a turbulent time for many young adults. It may not be unusual to experience ups and downs and require additional emotional support during or immediately after graduating from college. 

However, several signs may indicate that a person’s emotional turmoil has progressed from an expected reaction to a mental health condition like depression. Such depressive symptoms and mental health indicators can include the following: 

• Shame and self-loathing: Some recent college grads may start to blame themselves and the choices they made in the past for their post-graduation difficulties, like high levels of student loan debt or the loss of health insurance. If they are having difficulty finding a job or paying their bills, they may experience frustration toward themselves regarding the major they chose, how hard they studied, or the cost of the school they chose to attend. If they are feeling lonely in their post-college lives, as studies show many young adults are, they may criticize themselves for not spending more time with their college friends while they had the chance, or for not putting in more effort to maintain those friendships immediately after graduation.
• Cynicism: While not all young adults have difficulty finding jobs after college, some may, and even those who secure employment may find their salaries are insufficient to meet all of their financial needs and save for goals like buying a house. Those who worked hard in college and believe their hard work has not paid off in post-college life may sense they were cheated out of something that was promised. This cynical attitude can start to spread to other areas of a person’s life and lead to bitterness.
• Hopelessness: This foundational symptom of depression can be common in people who have recently graduated college and believe their post-grad lives are falling short of what they expected. Such hopelessness may be exacerbated by comparing themselves to their peers on social media, which may make it seem as though they are the only ones experiencing difficulties after college. 
• Anhedonia: Anhedonia can be defined as the inability to experience pleasure or happiness. Life may seem pointless or boring after college. Activities a person used to enjoy while in college may not be fun anymore, especially without their college friends.
• Lack of motivation: Burnout can lead to post-grad depression in many recent college graduates. A person may lose their will to keep trying if they have been seeking a job for months or attempting to build a community in a new city with little success.
• Persistent sadness: Feelings of sadness are typically considered to be potential indications of mental health disorders if they occur almost every day for at least a two-week period. 
• Exhaustion: If a person experiences fatigue that does not correspond to their activity level, it could be a sign of depression, particularly if they are spending large amounts of the day in bed.
• Cognitive concerns: Distress and overwhelm in response to the complications of post-grad life can impact a person’s ability to focus, remember things, or complete simple tasks. They may be wholly overwhelmed at the prospect of simple decisions, like what to eat for breakfast.
• Appetite changes: An increase or decrease in regular appetite levels can lead to weight gain or loss for recent college graduates experiencing post-grad depression. 

How to cope with post-grad depression

Stay active

It can be helpful to develop a regular exercise routine, as physical activity can boost overall mental health and well-being. Your routine does not need to involve joining a gym or training for a marathon – it can be as simple as taking a daily walk around your neighborhood. 

If you are experiencing loneliness after graduating, engaging in a fitness regimen could be an opportunity to gain some social benefits as well. Joining a sports team or taking a regular group class could help you build community in addition to getting your body moving.

Pay attention to what you eat

In college, it can be easy to rely on dining hall food, packets of ramen noodles, or random late-night snacks. In post-grad life, though, a regular cooking routine can help you eat more nutritiously. Learning to prepare food for yourself could also be a fun way to develop a new skill, which may be something you are missing from college. You could even try taking a cooking class if you would like to temporarily return to the classroom environment, although watching YouTube videos related to cooking can work just as well and may be more cost-effective.

Talk to an online therapist

In college, mental health support is often built into campus life. Many colleges have on-site counseling centers and a trained crisis counselor on hand at all times to help their students. Transitioning from an environment where it may have been obvious how to seek mental health support to the adult world, where healthcare access can seem complicated, may be challenging.

However, there are straightforward and effective care options available. Online therapy through an accredited service like BetterHelp is open to anyone with a stable internet connection. With BetterHelp, you do not have to worry about insurance compatibility, and the cost of attending sessions tends to be similar to insurance co-pays. 

Research has found that attending therapy online can be just as effective as attending traditional in-person therapy when addressing various mental health concerns, including depression. A 2020 study found that completing a course of online therapy generally alleviated symptoms of both depression and anxiety.