Depression acts as one of the leading mental health diagnostics affecting college-aged students today. But with a societal stigma surrounding mental health and barriers to therapy, it is difficult for students to receive the support that they need to better manage their depressive state. Current literature delves into the causes of depression, and suggests that having a supportive social network is linked to lower levels of depression and anxiety. However, discussion of a highly accessible solution through technology was not found. Trellis is an exploratory project meant to discover whether a mobile application could be effectively used to support students through confronting the stigma of depression among college-aged students. To understand the needs of depressed college-aged students, an anonymous survey was posted on Facebook and Reddit, yielding 639 responses. The survey segmented participants into three groups related to depression and anxiety: those who were clinically diagnosed, those who felt they had symptoms but had not yet sought professional help, and those who are not personally struggling, but know of people who are. Participants were asked questions depending on the group they identified most with. Free response questions involved identifying coping strategies used and identifying what they wished they had to combat the symptoms. Likert scale questions were used to assess general attitudes towards why students hadn’t sought professional help, and the reasons as to why those that had friends exhibiting depressive symptoms did not yet broach the subject with them.
Using ATLAS.ti, a qualitative analysis was conducted to thoroughly vet the answers received. It was discovered that students with depression long for a caring, non-judgmental support group and better education about mental health, as the stigma makes is difficult to seek help.
Trellis is designed to connect those that want to get support, to those that want to give support.