Project 2

College Depression and Albert Camus 

Albert Camus was an absurd writer, important philosopher, and novelist. He was also known as “one of the most brilliant representatives of existentialist atheism, a label he rejected” (Mathy 1). How would Camus feel about college depression? Specifically, what would he think about the “20 to 25 percent of student population worldwide suffering from psychological distress” (Kumaraswamy 137)? He would not believe depression was a social epidemic. He would think it is irrational and should not be a problem that exists at all. Albert Camus would have had many thoughts about college depression and why it is not a social epidemic.  

For starters, Camus believed that “there is no love of life without despair about life” (Camus Happy Death 1). He is saying that life is going to be hard sometimes, but that is just how it works. College may cause people to feel hopeless at times, but they cannot let it get to them. Camus would likely believe that depression is just people experiencing that despair in their lives. College Students are working to get a degree for a career they love, so it should be worth it in the end. All the worrying and overthinking about college work is just a part of life. In fact, “certain individuals have produced outstanding works despite having experienced depression” (Musabiq 54). These individuals worked through their feelings just like Camus would do. It was all worth it in the end too because “the success of the world’s literary figures surpassed the difficult times they underwent (54). The end results outweighed the negatives for these individuals. They overcame that despair in life in order to achieve what they love. People like this would show Camus that depression does not affect you unless you let it. Camus was incredibly wise and revealed many life lessons. 

One life lesson from Albert Camus is that “happily ever after is not a realistic goal, we are never satisfied with the things we get” (7 Life Lessons from Albert Camus 7:05). Humans always want more, no matter what they already have; it is human nature. What does this have to do with college depression? A person applies to a college they want to attend, and they get into the college they worked so hard for. While at college, this person just complains about all the work and how overwhelming it is. They worked for that goal just to complain about how drained it makes them feel. Camus revealed that “the secret is to learn to enjoy the process and to not mind so much about the goals” (7:20). If people thought like this, college depression would not exist. Since Camus believed that it was this easy, he would have believed that college depression is just something people made up to take the easy way out. 

Camus believed that there are three responses to the absurdity of life, which are: physical suicide, philosophical suicide, and acceptance (Camus: The Absurd Hero 0:22). However, the only response he agreed with was acceptance. In this response “man is free to create his own meaning and purpose” (2:38). People with depression do not feel like they can create their own purpose. They feel like they cannot control anything that is going on in their life. Clearly, Camus would disagree with this statement. People should live life however they want to, without worry and fear. There is not an easy way to escape this absurd reality called life. 

Camus believed that “faith and suicide were irrational ways for people to escape” (7 Life Lessons from Albert Camus 3:53). Depression would fall under this same category in his mind for a few reasons. Firstly, people use religion as a way to cope with anxiety and depression. Research has shown that “religiousness and spirituality have helped individuals in coping with stressful life events and environments” (Klausli 182). Camus was an atheist, so he would not believe that religion is a good skill for coping with depression. He classified religion as a type of philosophical suicide. Religion would harm people rather than help them in Camus’ mind. It is just something that was made up years ago to give people an escape and something to live for (7 Life Lessons from Albert Camus 4:01). People should not live for one thing because if that one thing is taken away, the will to live will also be gone. Without the will to live, suicide is more likely to occur in this situation.  

Suicide is another irrational way for people to escape, as mentioned earlier. Suicide “is the second leading cause of death among college students” due to depression (Newhart 260). Students are trying to escape depression by committing suicide, but that does not solve anything. These students are just running away from their problem and putting it onto other people when they die, instead of facing it head on. Camus would think depression is people trying to find meaning in life when there is not one. Camus believed that “instead of choosing to die, we should acknowledge that life is absurd and that this contradiction between the world's meaninglessness and our desire for meaning must be lived” (Camus Happy Death 1). Depression would be something Camus thinks everyone has. What this means is that Camus would believe feeling overwhelmed and tired is just a part of life and does not need to be categorized as depression. People want to find a reason for why life is not just rainbows and butterflies all the time, but this is why Camus says life is absurd. Camus would feel that there is not a reason for being depressed because it is just a part of life.  

Albert Camus was an important philosopher that believed life is not always going to be happy. Depression is a common and frequent problem that many college students are dealing with. This problem is continuing to rise in college students everywhere. However, there are many resources for students with depression that need help. Suicide and religion are two ways people with depression cope. However, Camus believes these are irrational things people use to escape. Camus would believe that college depression is not a real thing, and it is just another irrational thing for people to use as an escape from the absurd reality of life.