Post-Grad Depression: Is it Real?

It has been about two months since I have graduated from undergrad, and I definitely believe that the idea of post-grad depression can truly exist for some people. While graduating from college is a tremendous accomplishment, it can also be very difficult and fearful for young adults. Graduation is a transitional period in most people’s lives. Moving on from college life into the real world can be smooth and exciting for some, but very slow and stressful for others.

Like most transitional periods in a person’s life, they require a lot of self-reflection and finding yourself. Most graduates are now seeking out their true identity and purpose within the world. With all of the freedoms and options that come with graduating college, it can also be just as difficult to pinpoint exactly what path to take.

Post-grad life also comes with a complete change in one’s lifestyle. During the four years (or more) of college, most students are always busy and constantly on the move. Whether its going from class to class, working, playing a sport, or doing homework, students are constantly practicing time management. Most (but not all) students also have many of their essential and basic needs paid for. Some may be on full or partial scholarships to attend their college or university, have meal plans, and/or have their room and board paid for by their parents. For the most part, students’ lives are also constructed within the confines of their campus. Their is little need for them to leave the campus, or stray to far from it. That can also leave them out of touch with reality, or at least what’s going in the rest of the world.

In real life however, this lifestyle is drastically different. Most graduates are moving back home or moving into their own place. Some may have too much free time, while others are now on a set schedule about five days a week with their new careers. A lot of graduates are also transitioning from having a lot of their essentials paid for, to beginning to pay bills and provide for themselves (even though most of us are still broke). They may be moving away from friends they had in college, or even be drifting away from the isolation they had so much of while living on a college campus. Even more graduates are preparing for the transition to grad school or possibly planning for it in the future.

These change can be both drastic and pivotal for young adults. The position/situation a graduate is in now may not be the same one they are in within the next year or two. Everyone has a different path, no path is better than the next, and none of these paths are set in stone (at least this is what I try to assure myself). I just think it’s important to remember that you’re not alone in dealing with the process.