Besançon. Testimony of a former student: when non-integration leads to depression

Coming from a general baccalaureate, Louis (1) joined the STAPS degree in 2021. As a minor, he experienced great difficulty integrating into his new student life. “STAPS was presented to us as being all beautiful and rosy. I thought I was going to have a blast. The courses were interesting, but reality caught up with me.”

Little by little, Louis found himself alone. "All the integration evenings I was invited to took place in nightclubs, but I was 17, and I was turned away every time."

Louis wasn't alone in class, but in the evening, back in his dorm room, he found himself alone with his thoughts. "I'd made several friends, but I only saw them at university. At home, I was alone; my escape was junk food and video games. In fact, I was trying to escape reality. Sometimes, I'd spend twelve hours a day in front of my console."

Inevitably, Louis's grades plummeted while his loneliness worsened. "I didn't pass my first semester, that was the final blow. I was so ashamed of my failure that I didn't want to tell my parents." But parental instinct never lies. "They noticed my unhappiness, I had to confess everything to them, a psychologist diagnosed me with depression, I confessed, and I managed to get back on my feet."

Since then, Louis has been doing better and has changed his course of study. "I switched to another degree, where I was fully integrated."

(1): The student's first name has been changed at his request.