As throngs of young Californians march off to college bubbling with anticipation, those heading to UCLA — including 1,150 from the Bay Area — will be asked a peculiar question when they arrive:
Can we screen you for depression?
Depending on their answer, as many as 10,000 incoming freshmen and transfer students could become part of the school’s massive study into the causes and treatments of the mental disorder.
Called the Depression Grand Challenge, UCLA’s initiative — which seeks to cut the incidence of depression worldwide in half by 2050 — is launching the screenings as new students move into their dorms and prepare for the first day of classes on Thursday.
“It’s a massive undertaking,” said Dr. Nelson Freimer, a geneticist and professor of psychiatry at UCLA who is overseeing the initiative. “We don’t think anybody has done this in a university before, and it’s the first of many steps to come.’’
Health experts say depression is the world’s leading cause of disability, and 800,000 lives are lost each year through suicide.
“We are aiming for nothing less than a transformation in how depression is detected, diagnosed and treated,’’ UCLA Chancellor Gene Block told a group of business leaders and health care experts gathered earlier this month at a Napa Valley forum focused on mental illness in the workplace.
Incoming students who choose to participate in the study will be screened for depression and related traits such as anxiety, mania and suicidal tendencies. Researchers will later contact all those who enroll.
The researchers will encourage some participants to use an online program developed in Australia to treat and prevent anxiety and depressive disorders. Those with more serious depression will be offered counseling.
A pilot study last year of 684 UCLA students of all grade levels who volunteered for the screening — which takes only a few minutes to fill out online — led 203 students to use the internet-based therapy, while 48 others turned out to have “pretty significant depression,” Freimer said.
Leah Robbie, a graduate of San Jose’s Presentation High School who is on her way to UCLA, is open to the idea.
“Honestly, I think it’s worth trying,’’ said Robbie, 18, who experienced bouts of sadness as she watched her father’s 10-year-long battle with early onset Alzheimer’s, ending with his death from the disease in 2015.
“Whether somebody will admit it or not, everybody has angst going into freshman year,’’ said Robbie, who lives in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood. “It could manifest itself in different ways — and if somebody is able to take this step, I think the program could benefit them.’’
Her mom, Kim Steppe, said the decision is up to her daughter.
“She’s 18, technically an adult,’’ Steppe said. “She will have lots of things thrown at her. As a parent, you hope you’ve given them the best foundation when they go off, and part of that is addressing mental health issues. You just don’t know when that stuff will come up.’’
The mental health screenings for incoming students are part of the larger commitment UCLA made two years ago to the decades-long initiative to battle depression. Early next year, researchers will begin trying to persuade 100,000 patients who use the UCLA health system to agree to be part of the larger study.
For that effort, researchers are studying only those individuals who have
depression or are at risk for depression. They will also ask patients for permission to study their DNA and monitor them over at least 10 years.
Other schools have launched similar projects. Three universities in North Carolina, including Duke, and one in South Carolina, are participating in a five-year, $3.4 million study aimed at the causes of student stress. The project will follow the class of 2018 through its senior year.
But UCLA’s project is much more comprehensive. It will tap into the research and skills of more than 100 professors from 25 departments, including neuroscience, medicine, computer science, the arts and economics. At some point, it also may involve all UC campuses.
The initiative’s centerpiece is the study of the 100,000 individuals, expected to cost at least $525 million — most of that to pay for the cost of sequencing each person’s genomes, Freimer said.
Support from the federal government will cover some of the funding. But Freimer said the university is looking for financial help from philanthropists and a novel mechanism by which investors — including Silicon Valley companies — can contribute financially to the research with the hope of receiving a return on their investments.
It’s well-established that depression is a major health problem at U.S. campuses.
Freimer said most students enter college at an age when symptoms related to brain health often begin to surface. And the first-year experience — navigating into adult roles, making independent decisions away from home, entering into relationships, coping with pressure to achieve and stress over finding a job upon graduation — can be overwhelming.
Last year, the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA reported that 12 percent of U.S. freshmen — a record high — “frequently” felt depressed over the prior year. Fourteen percent said there was a “very good chance” they would seek personal counseling in college.
Mateo Mok, an incoming UCLA freshman who graduated from San Leandro High School, said he thinks the screening is a good idea and he’ll probably volunteer to take part in the study — depending on how much time it would take out of his schedule.
“I think mental health is one of the least-paid-attention-to problems facing students,’’ Mok said. “It’s kind of very stigmatized right now.”
And that doesn’t make sense to the 18-year-old.
“If something goes wrong with your back, you go to the doctor,” he said. “Why would you not go to the doctor if something is wrong with your brain?’’
His mom, Jenny Keystone, also said the screening is up to him.
“We as a society are putting so much pressure on our kids to excel when they are not fully formed emotionally,’’ Keystone said. “And the damage that can do — and does — we are hearing about all the time.’’
Shining a light on the issue, she said, “is really positive, and I’m thrilled to hear it’s happening.’’
HOW OTHER COLLEGES CONFRONT MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
Stanford University: A new student orientation program informally screens students for mental health problems. In addition, Stanford’s 1,700 incoming freshmen are being housed in small residential “houses,” or subsections of dorms. Resident faculty fellows, staff and residential advisers watch out for the students and look for signs of mental illness.
Santa Clara University: Incoming students are asked to fill out health history forms that inquire about students’ mental health history and that of their families. In addition to counseling services, suicide prevention training is now available for all students, faculty and staff.
San Jose State University: The college has developed a system of informing students of the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses and the services that are available, through presentations and discussions with faculty and staff. Trainings on mental health awareness, as well as suicide intervention skills, are provided regularly each semester.
UC Berkeley: Online training, orientation, events and workshops provided to freshmen focus on managing stress, building resiliency and informing students about campus mental health resources. Suicide-prevention training and reminders about mental health resources continue throughout the school year, especially during the stressful times of midterm exams and finals.
