College is an extremely stressful and overwhelming time, and as someone who's dealt with anxiety from a young age, the fast-paced and stressful lifestyle of a college student did not help. I know I'm not alone in this, because anxiety is the most common mental health diagnosis among college kids.
To put this in perspective, 41.6% of college students have been diagnosed with or treated for anxiety at some point during their college career. In order to help each other and try to reverse the stigma around mental health, first, we have to start helping ourselves. Every person experiences anxiety differently, and the physical symptoms are specific to each person individually. The ways you should handle it and cope with it are completely specific to YOU. Taking care of yourself and your mental well-being is too important not to be making a priority in our lives.
1. Be aware of your triggers
Personally, my biggest trigger is feeling trapped. Something about being somewhere and not having the ability to leave at any given time if I start to feel anxious sets me into full-blown panic. I don't know why this is or where it comes from, but being aware of when I feel this way has helped me avoid these scenarios altogether.
2. Distraction
Using distraction to avoid what triggers my anxiety has helped me so much, especially in college. If I start to feel anxious in a situation, removing myself and finding something else to focus on or do can change my day from an anxiety-filled one to a productive and happy one. Pushing myself outside of my anxious bubble has led me to do and be involved in things that I wouldn't have been if I had let myself stay stuck in my miserable anxiety pit. Distracting yourself with POSITIVE people, activities, and thoughts can have a positive impact on your life and mental well-being.
3. Do something instead of nothing
I feel the most anxious when I have nothing to do. Staying busy is so important, whether it's going for a walk, FaceTiming your mom or going over to your friend's house. This goes along with distractions and taking your mind off of what's making you anxious.
4. Break up your schedule
When I schedule my day out completely, from what time I wake up to what I'm going to make for dinner, for some reason having it all laid out helps me stay calm and focused throughout the day. Figuring things out as I go makes me feel overwhelmed and stressed and I don't get anything done, especially when I'm on campus most of the day. Campus stresses me out as it is on a normal busy day, I need to know what I'm doing in order to not stress myself out and panic.
5. Take care of yourself
Self care is something that I've cared about since I was younger, around the time my anxiety started. Self care includes everything from eating well, getting enough sleep, exercising, all the things you're "supposed" to do to take care of yourself and stay healthy. To me it's beyond just staying healthy, these things became what I clung to in order to make myself feel better when I was anxious. College is busy and stressful more times than not, and sometimes you're so exhausted when you get home you just want to go straight to bed. It happens to all of us, but taking care of yourself is too important to forget about altogether.
6. Know when to seek help
There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with turning to a therapist or doctor for help coping with anxiety whether or not you've tried to deal with the issues on your own. In order to reverse the stigma around mental health, it is important that people feel comfortable seeking help when you feel what you are experiencing are out of your own control. I've been there, and there was not a moment that I felt ashamed for seeking help when help was needed and the issue became bigger than just myself.
