COLLEGE STUDENTS AND STRESS : 41.6% SUFFER!
College students often experience stress due to changes in lifestyle, increased workload, new responsibilities, and interpersonal relationships. Extreme levels of stress can hinder work effectiveness and lead to poor academic performance and low productivity. Stress, though necessary for effective performance, may also lead to a lot of adverse effects, the most common among them being anxiety. According to the American Psychology Association 2013, anxiety is the top presenting concern among college students at 41.6% followed by depression.
College students are separated from their traditional support system of family and friends. They also face many new challenges, such as living in an altered environment compared to school, managing heavy workloads, and developing an independent identity and trying to financially support themselves. Thus it’s no surprise that stress and anxiety often spikes during college.
Family may often play a role in the stress levels and ways of coping in an individual as the expectations from family and need for social conformity lead way to high stress levels among college students combined with assignments and deadlines. This is also a time in an individual’s life where he/she is expected to make a way for the future settlement in life.
Life and stress
Stress is an inevitable part of life; it can take a toll on students’ physical health, emotional wellbeing, and academic success. College students who experienced stressful life events also reported worse health outcomes and reduced quality of life.
Anxiety, on the other hand is the mind and body’s reaction to stressful, dangerous, or unfamiliar situations. It’s the sense of uneasiness, distress, or dread you feel before a significant event. A certain level of Anxiety helps us stay alert and aware, however prolonged and constant high levels of anxiety can hinder growth and progress among students.
Family is one of the strongest support systems for any individual and as students walk into a different lifestyle, it becomes considerably difficult to maintain and keep up with all the increasing stressors as well as maintain familial relations.
