You hear it everywhere, people are more anxious than ever. College seems to be a large cesspool of anxiety that no one can escape. Yet it can be a serious problem when it is a part of your everyday life, instead of just finals week.
Like other words, anxiety gets thrown around all the time, making it seem as if it is a common, non-issue type of thing. The problem is when you are in college (or just in life) with an actual anxiety disorder, everything gets tougher, and no one really understands.
Living with an anxiety disorder can mean a multitude of things depending on the severity and life events going on. It can lead to other issues as well, making the average college life surprisingly more difficult. As a person who has generalized anxiety disorder I thought I would share some of the seemingly pointless things that can make people with anxiety, feel, well … anxious.
Sometimes it happens for no reason at all. You could be in the middle of a conversation and suddenly it feels like the whole world is on your shoulder. Seriously though, there have been times where I am sitting in my room and suddenly it feels as if I missed a final and forgot to pay rent and suddenly every person is judging me. Except I'm sitting in my room, alone. It's a stupid thing that happens when chemicals do not line up right inside your brain, and if there is one thing I know for sure, making fun of a person for it will not help.
So let's say you actually have an assignment due, most people will get stressed trying to meet deadlines, but every so often for a person with anxiety it feels as if the assignment is eating them alive. They can't just think about the assignment, no they also think about how they might do, how that will impact their final grade, then suddenly you are calculating how to get an A in the class instead of doing the assignment. Telling people to “just focus" does not help FYI.
Although, I think the worst thing is just trying to not freak out all the time. Small things become big things, big things become huge, and anything bigger than that makes you want to give up entirely. It's hard to want to do anything when you feel like you have to do everything. So you end up just staying in bed doing nothing. Which never helps.
The good news is that there are many different things that can help:
Meditation is a big one. Taking time each day to breathe and just stay calm. It also helps to reflect on the good things.
Good friends help a ton. If you have people who don't judge and make you laugh, suddenly everything is better.
Therapy. Don't think it's for any particular reason. Having someone who can listen to your problems is always helpful. Always.
Medication. If the other ways are not helping you and anxiety is becoming a big problem there are medicines that can be prescribed to help you.
Anxiety is tough no matter what, in college it can be even worse. So don't throw the word around like it's nothing, and if you need help dealing with it don't be afraid to ask. Remember we are all in this together!
