Stress & Anxiety in College: What It Looks Like and How to Cope

Happy Monday, Lutes!

My blogpost this week has a slightly different feel than usual. While thinking of topics to write about for this blog, I always try to find an avenue through which I can offer some insight, tips, or suggestions – whether it relates to residence halls, meal plans, job interviews, or anything in between. This week, however, I want to shift your attention towards something most of us (read: all) deal with from time to time; the feeling of being stressed and/or anxious. It comes as no surprise that college students often find themselves stressed with meeting deadlines and keeping up with our workload, but further than that, more and more students are struggling with stress and anxiety beyond just school itself.

Despite Mental Health Month being in May, I figured that the beginning of the semester would be a better time to discuss the importance of maintaining one’s mental health. After all, education is the first step towards preventing and coping with difficulties with mental health. Given the scope of this topic, I will narrow the focus on symptoms and signs of being stressed and anxious – and walking you through some steps you can take to cope with and handle these feelings. I myself have been feeling particularly overwhelmed and anxious recently, so more than anything I want to let you all know that you are not alone in feeling this way! To start off, let’s look at some different levels of stress and how they vary.

What is Stress?

They ways in which stress manifests is often referred to as a “fight or flight” response. As the words suggest, the feeling of being stressed causes our bodies to either run away from a stressor, or tense up and fight against it. In other words, stress is our body’s natural reaction to a challenge. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), there are three types of stress: acute, episodic acute, and chronic.

Symptoms and Signs

The descriptions above give you general idea as to whether the stress you are feeling is rooted in everyday concerns and difficulties, or if the problem goes beyond surface-level stressors. Realizing that the feelings you are experiencing are a result of stress can help you navigate your emotional and cognitive state during distress. Although searching for symptoms in and of itself is rarely relaxing - it is helpful to know which symptoms to look out for when you're feeling overwhelmed. 

Here are a some different symptoms and signs of feeling stressed:

Stress vs. Anxiety: What’s the Difference?

People often confuse the feeling of stress for being anxious. This is not surprising, as the two share many similar symptoms and signs – the feelings are similar in many ways. Stressful feelings include feeling frustrated or nervous, and these feelings usually relate to everyday stressors which may cause us to feel overwhelmed. Stress isn’t necessarily always bad either. Think about the feeling you get in your stomach prior to taking a big exam, or giving a presentation. In moments like these, stress is not only expected, it might actually help you prepare for and succeed at the task at hand. Anxious feelings, on the other hand, include fear, unease, and worry.

The key difference between stress and anxiety is whether what you’re feeling is a reaction to things that are happening now (stress), versus worrying over situations that may or may not happen in the future (anxiety). A constant feeling of being on the edge and worried about something – usually fearing the worst – are intrinsic to feeling anxious. Anxiety is the stress that persists even after the stressor is gone. It is important to note that anxiety can instill a feeling of hopelessness due to the overwhelming nature of thoughts and feelings that come along with being anxious. This sense of not knowing what to do or how to pause your thoughts can cause significant distress in one’s life. Understanding the feeling as your body’s natural response to a situation can help alleviate some tension when dealing with anxiety.

Feeling stressed is not the same as being anxious. Stress is something that is usually temporary and can be alleviated; anxiety might be a constant, unrelenting sensation which might require professional resources in order to treat.

How to Cope with Anxiety

Approach, don’t avoid. A common symptom of anxiety disorder is to intentionally avoid situations that trigger your anxiety. Avoidance, however, tends to make anxiety worse over time. Avoidance can help prevent anxiety in the short-run, however, it is important to deal with anxiety head-on by taking small steps to approach anxiety-provoking situations in order to make long-term progress. This is easier said than done, and if you find it impossible to make progress in this area on your own, it is time to reach out to a professional.

Keep yourself busy. This is a similar philosophy to approaching anxiety head-on, but the main purpose behind this strategy is getting out of your own head. The trickiness with anxiety is that it can lead you to feel as though you’re trapped with your own thoughts, and a common symptom of anxiety is not being able to shift your focus away from your worries. The easiest way to get out of such a headspace is to keep yourself busy. Again, this is not always possible when experiencing particularly intense anxiety, but it may help prevent a state of panic if you are able to keep yourself busy with things that don’t allow you to think too much.

Learn your triggers. Is your anxiousness tied to your family, friends, relationships, or school? A helpful way to deconstruct your anxiety can be to identify certain patterns in the thoughts/situations that trigger anxiety. Writing down your unfiltered feelings in a journal can help you identify some common themes or patterns in your fears and worries. Getting a sense of what lies behind your fear can help you put it into a greater perspective, consequently making it feel less like a “real fear” you should be concerned with, and more like a product of underlying concerns.

Put things into perspective. Whenever I feel as though my anxiety is taking over, I make a point of identifying things that I am grateful for, which takes me out of a clouded headspace. I will say, this isn’t easy if you are experiencing a panic attack, but if you are able to steer your thoughts, try and guide them towards a bigger picture that might make your worries or fears seem less impactful. Asking yourself “Is it really as bad as I think?” can make you realize that the threat you're facing is not as bad as you might feel like it is.

Deep breaths. Focused breathing has proven to be an effective coping method for reducing anxiety. This is a mindfulness approach to coping with anxiety, which I encourage you to read further into if you find yourself feeling extremely anxious. Inhale and exhale slowly. Repeat, and focus solely on your breathing until you feel the tension in your body begin to release. If your mind starts wandering while performing this exercise, keep shifting your focus back to your breathing as many times as you need. The goal is simply to give your mind a break from constant spinning thoughts.

Talk to someone. When you can’t take another minute of what is going on inside your head, it’s time to talk to someone. Contact a person you trust and who knows you well, and discuss what is bothering you. Tell them that you are feeling overwhelmed, and let them know that you might need them to follow up with you in the next few days.  If you don’t want to talk anyone at the moment, you can write your thoughts and feelings down in a journal or a piece of paper. If you feel as though none of your friends or family are able to help you, you should really consider making a call to the counseling center.

When is it time to ask for help?

Although self-help coping strategies for anxiety can be very effective, if your worries, fears, or panic attacks have become so great that they’re causing extreme distress or disrupting your daily routine, it is important to seek professional help. A tell-tale sign that you should pursue counseling is if you’ve started to avoid certain situations because you’re afraid of becoming anxious or having a panic attack. The good news is that panic attacks – and anxiety in general – is highly treatable. Anxiety disorders respond very well to therapy, and usually within a relatively short amount of time. In fact, many people only need around 5 to 8 treatment sessions before seeing significant improvement.

Campus resources

Luckily, PLU has great resources available to those who struggle with extreme stress and anxiety. The PLU Counseling Center is a free mental health counseling resource available to all currently enrolled students. It is located on the third floor of the Anderson University Center (Room 300), and offers the help of an experienced team of licensed psychologists and mental health counselors. Your first appointment will serve as a “screening intake” visit. This means that you will meet with one of the licensed psychologists or mental health counselors to talk about your concerns and determine the best plan of action. From there, you can create a plan for how to go about treating your anxiety.

Due to confidentiality concerns, all appointments must be made by phone or by visiting their office. To schedule an appointment with the PLU Counseling Center, call (253)-535-7206.

** For urgent mental health support after business hours (including weekends and holidays), contact the Counseling Center Crisis Line at 253-535-7075.  You will be connected with a crisis line professional who works closely with PLU’s counseling office. 

If you are currently dealing with intense stress and/or anxiety, I hope you leave this blog knowing that 1) You are not alone (!!!), and 2) There is help available to you. Making the first phone call is always the hardest step, but I encourage you all to pay extra attention to your mental health and overall wellbeing this semester. I certainly will :) 

-- Megan