Siqi Liu
Gabriella Megyesi-Briese
ENG 114.1004
6 Apr. 2015

Research Paper First Draft
(Unfinished)

Imagine an international student got the offer from a university in the United States, and had an opportunity to live in a new environment, how excited he/she could be! It seems like the life for those who study overseas should be enjoyable since they are surrounded by different things. In real life, international students are facing many difficulties such as culture shock, and language challenges that might make them into introverts, and eventually become a major cause of depression. Society has aware this problem, and many health professionals and educators study what international college students can do to prevent depression. Although many research studies suggest that taking medication is an appropriate way to eliminate the possibility of being depressed among international college students, they usually underestimate the side-effects, such as weight gain, and addiction. After analyzing and evaluating comprehensive studies, a keen observer can come to the conclusion that in order to prevent depression effectively, international college students should maintain healthy life style, actively involve school and social activities, and seek counseling services in a timely manner.
For decades, depression is a major mental health issue, as well as a major risk for suicide at all ages. Such a dangerous mental disorder is eroding international students in American universities. According to Han et al., the tremendous development on both education and technology made the United States a popular place to study abroad. However, the international student has been regarded as a high-risk group for mental health problems since they are facing many pressures for adapting new environment. For example, homesickness, and culture shock (1). Homesickness is a common symptom among international college students. Being far away from their country, families, and friends, international students usually feel helpless, lonely, and insolated because of insufficient social supports. Consequently, these negative feelings devote themselves to build the foundation of mental health problems like depression. Another potential cause of depression is culture shock. While international college students are experiencing new things, the excitement does not last for a long period to some of them. They can be shocked by language, customs, even climate differences. As new challenges continuously come to those students, the stress from academic studies and lives can easily make them feel depressed. It is understandable that homesickness and culture shock appear soon or later when exploring new culture. Yet, finding the way to prevent depression for international students will indeed make their college lives in United States more enjoyable.
The first way to prevent depression among international students is to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which usually associates with eating, exercise, and sleep. A healthy living is powerful for preventing depression because it keeps students strong on both physical, and mental. One of the steps to have a good lifestyle is to eat healthily. Among international college students, some of them choose to not eat, or skip meals because they have difficulties adapting foreign food. On the other hand, some international college students overeat because they get excited to try new foods. These two actions are considered as unhealthy eating habits. On the contrary, a healthy habit with fruits,