Stress. It’s a fact of life — including the college student’s life. Every college student knows about cramming, procrastinating and pulling all-nighters. But what happens when the stress becomes extreme — extreme enough to cause detrimental consequences?
Guardian
Extreme levels of stress can cause anxiety, memory blackouts, physical illness and be factors in depression, substance abuse, eating disorders and even suicide. Many educational and medical journals have recorded these troubling trends in college students across the country. According to an American College Health Association survey in 2000, 61 percent of college students said they felt hopeless, 45 percent reported feeling so depressed they could not function and 9 percent felt suicidal.
Yet stress, itself, as doctors will tell you, is normal and necessary. Some people even thrive on stress. How then, does one explain the scary statistics?
“”Part of being alive is to have stress,”” said Dr. Reina Juarez, Interim Director of Psychological and Counseling Services at UCSD. “”Unfortunately when we feel that our life is on the line, or if we start to think in ways that are totally de-empowering us, that’s when we get into trouble.””
Unhealthy coping methods often involve escapist actions that only worsen the stress. Juarez notes that some students may “”self-medicate”” through food, caffeine, alcohol or drugs or through “”avoidance behavior,”” such as procrastinating. The degree of reliance on even innocuous methods can become unhealthy and destructive. For example, oversocializing can become avoidance behavior and withdrawing to study can deteriorate into workaholism and isolation.
“”I think the first thing that happens to people when they get stressed is they stop doing everything — except the thing that’s stressing them. So they stop doing everything else in their life that was giving their life meaning, giving them joy, and they’re only doing school, so what of course happens is that their stress is exacerbated,”” said Brian Burke, a PCS clinical psychology intern.
Burke recalled a student who was overwhelmed with pressure from her family and academics. She could not concentrate on her studies because she was not eating well, and not sleeping, exercising and socializing enough.
“”If I would’ve just taught her different ways of studying, which is what she came in for … then I think I would’ve missed a big part of the picture,”” Burke said.
Thus, a balanced lifestyle including a healthy diet, exercise and sleep are essential. Dr. Tiffany O’Meara of PCS presented the five-part model as a way to deal with negative patterns: thoughts, moods, behavior, biological factors and environment. Change in even one of the areas will affect the entire system.
For those in transition, such as freshmen and transfers, or those with heavy workloads like medical students, the significance of balance is even more important.
An unstable lifestyle overwhelmed Thurgood Marshall College freshman Van Tran during her winter quarter. The stress of her heavy load of school, work and organization commitments became so apparent that her Dimensions of Culture writing assistant, Ryan Van Whye, was concerned.
“”I was crying for one thing,”” Tran recalled. “”I couldn’t speak right, my hands were shaking and I said, ‘Ryan, I can’t focus … [or] talk to you about DOC right now.'”” He recommended her to see the dean of Marshall College, Ashanti Houston Hands, who got her an appointment with Dr. Kathy Lee, the on-site psychological counselor, that very day. Tran, who had not heard of PCS until then, found it helped her “”to just vent”” and get practical suggestions.
Medical student Elan Newman, although preparing for the National Board exam in June, finds himself relatively well despite his workload. Contrary to expectations, he doesn’t drink much coffee, although he noticed that his peers do.
“”I’m told that I’m going through the most stressful period of medical school right now,”” Newman said. “”My solution has been to exercise religiously. Physical toughness equals mental toughness. But no matter how a person deals with stress, it is important to take care of your mental health and to seek out those people and venues that will foster a positive sense of self and well-being.””
Just as detrimental as unhealthy routines, and often at the root of them, are people’s negative thought patterns. According to O’Meara, “”It’s not the thing that is stressing you that’s the key, because you can have 10 people studying for an exam, and they can each react in different ways. There’s a mediating factor between the stressor and your reaction — and it’s your perception.””
Significantly, these negative thoughts can induce anxiety, depression and suicide. As Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison said in a Psychiatric Times article, a “”not uncommon profile of an adolescent suicide is that of a high-achieving, anxious or depressed perfectionist. Setbacks or failures, either real or imagined, can sometimes precipitate suicide.””
With these negative thoughts, the most dangerous thing students can choose to do about stress is to decide to deal with it alone. “”Isolation can be one of our worst enemies when we are stressed,”” Juarez said.
A senior, who wishes to be identified as Frank, understands this because he has lived it.
“”My greatest depression occurred during college,”” said Frank, who considered suicide during his second year. He cited a variety of factors, including pressure from his parents to pursue a practical major, disappointment at failing classes and the lack of a goal in life.
“”At that point in time, I was bored with class. I was bored with the few friends I had. I had a crush on a girl that I knew I could never get. I played computer games all night and slept all day. I skipped all lectures and thought I could catch up ‘later,'”” he said.
Through talk therapy, medication and family understanding, however, Frank said he is much better today.
“”Part of my depression was that I had no one to love, but I guess what kept me going was that there are people who still love me,”” he said.
Although stress can never be eliminated, it can be successfully managed.
“”The goal is taking small steps over time,”” O’Meara said. “”Sometimes people are waiting for everything to be in a row to make the change. But there’s no better time than now.””
Fortunately, help is readily available at the university, whether it’s for academic, financial, social or psychological stress. Resources include tutoring at the Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services, mentoring programs, RIMAC’s Health and Wellness program, Student Legal Services, PCS groups like “”Optimism and Everyday Life”” and more. PCS is just one resource, but as Juarez emphasized, it is an important one that students may not take advantage of due to its stigma, when in fact PCS is not just for those with psychiatric disorders, but for everyone.
“”The beauty of PCS is that we work in conjunction with other departments,”” Juarez said. “”We coordinate all the efforts and that takes some of the pressure off the person because then you realize you are not alone … [Students] have an advocate, somebody who is a loyal companion as [they] go through the rapids of life.'””
For those under extreme stress, that point cannot be stressed enough: Help and hope are always at hand.
