4 in 10 college kids are depressed, hopeless

WASHINGTON - Pressure about grades, student loans, relationships and school work take a toll on college students, finds a new Associated Press-mtvU poll.

More than 42 percent of those surveyed at 40 colleges said they had felt down, depressed or hopeless several days during the past two weeks, and 13 percent showed signs of being at risk for at least mild depression, based on the students' answers to a series of questions that medical practitioners use to diagnose depressive illness.

Eighty five percent of those surveyed reported feeling stressed in their daily lives in recent months, found the poll of 2,240 undergraduate students ages 18-24 at four-year colleges.