Everyone experiences stress at different times in their lives, whether it has to do with school, work, family, or just life in general. Stress isn’t always a bad thing, as it can increase our awareness and survival instincts if we are in a situation where we need to survive. Too much stress can be debilitating though, and long-term psychological stress can impact behavior and gene transcription as certain hormones, glucocorticoids, are released in higher amounts, and cause a cascade of events in the cell. These epigenetic processes may contribute to the etiology of certain stress-related mental disorders such as major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders. Anxiety and depression also have high comorbidity with each other.
Today on college campuses, anxiety is the top presenting concern among students (41.6%), followed by depression (36.4%) according to a 2013 American Psychological Association survey.
Anxiety and depression in students has started to receive more attention. Ways this has happened include events such as Mental Health Awareness days or weeks, educational days, and students are urged to open up about their experiences to others to make them feel like they are not alone and have people to talk to. Counseling Centers are now found at essentially all college campuses with services available to all students to help them with psychological issues they may be struggling with. Students are seeking to end the stigma surrounding mental disorders, and I think that this is a great thing!
I also think that that students are being “over-diagnosed” with anxiety disorder. There is a difference between having an anxiety disorder and being anxious. Students get anxious about homework, tests, relationships, etc. And yes, this can be difficult for them as they seek to balance all aspects of their lives, but it is not the same as generalized anxiety disorder, as those people are anxious all the time for no apparent reason. I think that some students think they need anti-anxiety medications to deal with the stress in their lives, when really they do not have a disorder.
I think we need to be careful trying to accommodate everything to students and trying to protect them from all things that may cause them stress and anxiety. After college when they have jobs, or are dealing with stressful situations brought about by life, they need to be able to function and deal with things without always having help from others.
If students grow up and go to college being able to avoid things that make them feel anxious, or always have accommodations for them, how will they be expected to feel like they can deal with stressful events later in their lives??
I very much understand that it is very hard for people who suffer from anxiety or feel anxious to deal with their feelings, but that is why I think that there should be more of a focus on helping students cope with their feelings when they feel anxiety coming on. Instead of just accepting that they feel anxious and trying to get anti-anxiety medications or have special academic accommodations, I think that there should be an emphasis on empowering students to help them work to become mentally stronger and learn ways to ease the effects of anxiety.
Anxiety and College Students: Finding a Balance
