Depression is one of the most common mental disorders and that is no different for college students.
While in high school, University of Mount Olive Men's Lacrosse senior student-athlete Tim Dobson was diagnosed with major depression after his family, as well as Dobson himself, noticed a change in his overall persona. Dobson, a native of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, started seeing a psychologist for a few months before medication was decided as the next necessary step. After starting his first trial with medication, he began to see results. "It went well, and I started to improve. I had fewer lows," said Dobson.
After being on his first anti-depressants, Dobson was released from his psychologist and remained on his medication. During his senior year of high school, however, he became sick with mononucleosis and subsequently fell into a post-viral depression. Dealing with his early stages of depression and the downward spiral following his battle with mono, he fell back into a depressive episode. "There are lots of ways to trigger depressive episodes, but long-term immune issues generally can be something that opens the floodgates for emotions to take over your mental state." He then went on to miss a total of four weeks of class.
"In Australia, the only thing that matters in placing yourself in a good college are your final exams, not your overall grades. Based on how I finished the year I was not set up to get into any schools at home, and because of that I took a year off from school." Dobson struggled to find the next step in his life. "I was not well enough consistently to get a job, and even getting out of bed to hand out resumes was a bit too much for me."
After taking time off from school, Dobson, with the support of his mother, decided to try and pursue a degree and play lacrosse in the United States. "Lacrosse has always been the thing that helped me when I was flat and was the one thing I could consistently stick with."
In July of 2012, he made his way over to the United States to participate in collegiate lacrosse camps and began to reach out to coaches. After receiving offers and rejections from different schools, he received an email from UMO Head Coach Mike Murphy with an offer to come to Mount Olive for a visit. Dobson knew two members of the team Matt and Daniel Shields, both from Australia, and after speaking with them decided in July 2013 that he wanted to play for Mount Olive.
Just before beginning the journey of making his way to Mount Olive, he suffered a bad depressive patch. "My mom and I were questioning whether it was going to work. Most people worry about what am I going to do away from home or without my parents to do my laundry, but our big worry was what happens if my anti-depressants stop working. What happens if I get sick again and spiral into a depression and I am 10,000 miles away from home?"
Nonetheless, Dobson made the trek over to North Carolina and began his journey as a freshman at UMO. He experienced another setback at the first spring practice session when he incurred a concussion and then dipped into another depressive state. Along with his most recent episode, his medication stopped working during the middle of the semester. He battled with a deep depressive episode during spring break and had suicidal thoughts during that time. Days before Mount Olive was set to travel on a road contest, Dobson stepped away from the team. "Coach Murphy understood and supported me and said the door was always open for me to return."
Moving into his second year at Mount Olive, Dobson struggled to get his medication issues fixed. "Meds can stop working suddenly, and switching meds can make you physically ill for two or three weeks when starting a new medication. The first medication I was prescribed had worked for two years before it stopped. This time it took a year to get them right because not all drugs in the US are available in Australia."
After getting the problems with his new medication resolved, Dobson continued to battle sleeping issues resulting from his depression, as well as family matters back home. "The hardest part was being 10,000 miles away from home."
Dobson's junior year was a turning point in his life. "It was the first year of non-depression episodes, and I started to have thoughts of returning to the team, but I wanted to get back into playing shape." The next step in his story fast-forwards to the summer between his junior and senior year at UMO.
During the summer Dobson found the final piece he needed to get himself back into the mindset to play collegiate lacrosse again, his brother Luke. "I watched Luke play for the U-19 Australian National team in Canada, and that gave me the drive to play again." However, he had to prove to himself that he could make it back on the team. Dobson spent five days a week running and playing wall ball and came out 35 pounds lighter than his freshman year. Dobson then contacted Coach Murphy.
"Tim came into my office, and I told him we would love to have you back. I also told him the reality is that there is a good chance you may never step out on the field, but if you are willing to come out to practice and be a part of the team, then I will try to get you minutes. I told Tim you have to make sure that this isn't going to put you back into a bad place, and he said he wanted to give it a go for himself, so I said okay," said Murphy.
Dobson's story is still ongoing, as he has continued to have struggles on and off the field, but the support he has received from his teammates, professors, and family help him daily. Dobson is expected to receive a varsity letter after this season and graduate from UMO in May with a Bachelor's in Biology and a minor in Chemistry.
Dobson along with Dr. Joseph Klotz, UMO psychology professor, will be presenting on depression and anxiety on Wednesday, March 29 at 11:30 a.m. in the Hennessee Room. The mental health program is being presented as part of Mental Health Awareness Month sponsored by the UMO Department of Athletics, and all UMO faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend.
If you or someone you know is or may be suffering from a mental illness help is available. Mount Olive Counseling Services partners with the University of Mount Olive and offers service directly for UMO students and can be reached at 919-658-7500. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline toll-free at 1-800-273-8255 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
