Dummie's Guide to Dealing with Loneliness and Depression in College

Many students find that college can be a very lonely place because of the fact that students often attend colleges far away from home in which they do not have any friends. Moving to a place where you have no friends and you have never spent any time can be very difficult because of the fact that in college you will be away from home for periods of months at a time. This is a difficult situation to put anyone in but if you go into a new school without a plan of how to fight the feeling of loneliness that you will experience for the first couple of weeks of college then you are sure to be miserable. However, if you can follow some simple techniques you will quickly begin to think of college as the very best part of your life:

When you first move into your room the resident assistant of the building will introduce you to your new roommates. You should take advantage of this opportunity to learn about the people who you will be living with for at least the next year. Ask them what they do around campus for fun and if they belong to any clubs. If they suggest any clubs that you think you will enjoy then you should look into joining those because it will give you a way to keep yourself busy.

Try to ask your roommate out to dinner for a quick bite to eat so that you can get to know them better and the things that they think make campus fun. You may find an activity, which you would have never considered trying. Also, you can make friends with your roommate this way, which will allow you to get to know other people and spend your time eating with them also. You more you spend time with these people the closer you will grow to them and you will not have time to be lonely.

Occupy your extra time with things that you usually enjoy, if you are a person who likes to walk then you should walk around class or go work out with a friend. If you are bored then you may want to bring along your Ipod player so that you have some source of entertainment. This will make your time away from home easier.

Make use of your cell phone plan to call your old friends when you have time away from your new ones. Also, if you have the means then you can go home during breaks and visit your friends and family.