Honors Project: The Effects of Anxiety on College Students

Honors Project: The Effects of Anxiety on College Students by @SaimaK

What are Anxiety Disorders?

According to the article, Current Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders, Bystritsky, Khalsa, Cameron, and Schiffman (2013) explain that anxiety disorders are the most widespread mental health condition experienced by individuals of all ages (p. 30; Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016). Anxiety disorders are just as disabling as other mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia and depression, even though they are more inconspicuous (Bystritsky, Khalsa, Cameron, & Schiffman, 2013, p. 30). Anxiety disorders are generally known to cause individuals to experience tension, persistent thoughts and concerns that are both intrusive and concerning, high blood pressure, fast heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, and trembling (American Psychological Association, n.d.). Thus, anxiety disorders can intervene in an individuals relationship with their family and friends as well as impair their functionality at school, work, and in social situations (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016). Moreover, there are many major types of anxiety disorders, which are generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, phobias, social anxiety disorder (more commonly known as social phobia), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016).

What are the Major Types of Anxiety Disorders?

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Distinguished by causing an individual to experience incessant feelings of anxiousness and worriedness, difficulties with concentration and sleep, restlessness, muscle tension, feeling on edge, and irritability regarding a variety of concerns, such as finances and health problems (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016). Individuals experiencing generalized anxiety disorder generally believe that something bad is going to occur (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016).

Panic Disorders: Characterized by causing an individual to experience recurring panic attacks, in which individuals experience feelings of choking and dread, a rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating, and trembling (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016). Panic attacks tend to occur suddenly without any warning and thus cause individuals to change and/or limit their typical activities out of fear of when another attack may occur (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016).

Phobias: Characterized by causing an individual to experience distressing, intrusive, and intense fear regarding specific objects, such as snakes or spiders, or specific situations, such as flying in an airplane (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016).

Social Anxiety Disorder (or Social Phobia): Distinguished by causing an individual to experience fear of being embarrassed or judged within social situations (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016). As a result, individuals experiencing social anxiety disorder tend to worry about social events beforehand for days, experience difficulties in making friends, feel self-conscious around others, worry about being rejected by others or offending anyone, avoid social situations, and feel nauseous, nervous, shaky, and sweaty when spending time in social settings (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016).

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Distinguished by causing an individual to experience recurrent and unmanageable feelings and thoughts, which are known as obsessions, and rituals and/or routines, which are known as compulsions (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016).

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Characterized by causing an individual to experience daunting thoughts, nightmares, and flashbacks of their traumatic experience, which can be a severe physical or emotional trauma, such as a crime, natural disaster, or serious accident (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016). Post-traumatic stress disorder intervenes with an individuals day-to-day routine for months and even years after a traumatic experience (Sauer-Zavala, Bufka, & Wright, 2016).

How Does Anxiety Affect College Students?

Over time, anxiety disorders have surpassed depression and have become the number one mental health concern for college students (Elements Behavioral Health, 2017). More than 60% of college students across the country have reported anxiety as one of their primary health concerns (Elements Behavioral Health, 2017). 75% of all individuals experiencing an anxiety disorder tend to experience symptoms before the age of 22 (Tartakovsky, 2016). College tends to cause students to become overburdened and overwhelmed both emotionally and psychologically due to immense stress and pressure (Elements Behavioral Health, 2017).

What are the Reasons for this Increase in Anxiety?

There are many reasons for the increase in anxiety experienced by college students over the years (Pedrelli, Nyer, Yeung, Zulauf, & Wilens, 2015, p. 1-2; Elements Behavioral Health, 2017). To start, college is a momentous transition in which many college students have more responsibilities to balance and experience many firsts, such as a new lifestyle, new friends, roommates, and exposure to different and/or new cultures and ways of thinking (Pedrelli, Nyer, Yeung, Zulauf, & Wilens, 2015, p. 1-2; Tartakovsky, 2016). To continue, students tend to feel more pressure due to the competition and emphasis on performance due to changes in academic standards and high-pressure tests (Pedrelli, Nyer, Yeung, Zulauf, & Wilens, 2015, p. 1-2; Tartakovsky, 2016). Moreover, students tend to experience identity disorientation as their identity is no longer reinforced by familiar people, and so this disorientation and lack of confidence can lead students to make poor decisions (Pedrelli, Nyer, Yeung, Zulauf, & Wilens, 2015, p. 5; Tartakovsky, 2016). In addition to this, college students are more anxious due to concerns regarding the economy as well as low possibilities for jobs in the future for college graduates (Elements Behavioral Health, 2017). Also, financial pressure as a result of the cost of a university education and student debt as well as many other expenses cause students to experience anxiety (Elements Behavioral Health, 2017). Lastly, college students experiencing a mental health condition, such as anxiety, are likelier to experience extreme feelings of overwhelmingness and hopelessness, experience inability to function and succeed academically, to receive lower grade-point averages (GPAs), drop out of school, and be unemployed in comparison to peers who are not experiencing a mental health condition (Chadron State College, n.d.).

What are the Treatments for Anxiety?

Despite the prevalence of anxiety among college students, many do not seek treatment due to high self-perceived stigma, embarrassment, confidentiality concerns, financial concerns, and/or fear of not being able to lead a productive life by accepting the fact that they are struggling (Tartakovsky, 2016). Cohen (n.d.) advises college students to get as much sleep possible, think positive, have an outlet for stress, employ relaxation techniques, to talk to someone about how you are feeling, and to take advantage of available school resources. Furthermore, there are complementary and alternative treatments that are also quite effective in treating anxiety disorders, which are stress and relaxation techniques, meditation, yoga, and acupuncture (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d.).

Different Therapy Methods:

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT): Focuses on helping an individual identify, understand, and change their thinking and behavior patterns (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d.).

Exposure Therapy: Quite effective in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and phobias (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d.). Focuses on helping an individual by gradually exposing them to the object or situation that they fear in order to become less sensitive towards it over time (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d.).

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Focuses on helping an individual by through use of acceptance and mindfulness strategies paired with commitment and behavior change in order to cope with undesirable feelings, thoughts, and sensations (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d.).

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): Focuses on helping an individual through both individual and group therapy in order to develop skills for interpersonal effectiveness, regulation of emotions, and tolerance for distress as well as learn mindfulness (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d.).

Interpersonal Therapy (IPT): Focuses on helping an individual through supportive psychotherapy by addressing their depression and interpersonal experience (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d.).

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Quite effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic attacks, and phobias (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d.). Focuses on helping an individual reducing the intensity and distress that an individual experiences when viewing and processing disturbing material or thoughts (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, n.d.).

References:

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Anxiety. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/index.aspx

Anxiety and Depression Association of America. (n.d.). Find help: Treatment. Retrieved from https://adaa.org/finding-help/treatment#

Bystritsky, A., Khalsa, S. S., Cameron, M. E., & Schiffman, J. (2013). Current diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders. Pharmacy & Therapeutics, 38(1), 30-38, 41-44, 57. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3628173/

Chadron State College. (n.d.). College student mental health statistics. Retrieved from https://www.csc.edu/bit/resources/statistics/

Cohen, M. (n.d.). Student guide to surviving stress and anxiety in college & beyond. Learn Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.learnpsychology.org/student-stress-anxiety-guide/

Elements Behavioral Health. (2017). Anxiety statistics on college campuses: What you need to know. Retrieved from https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/anxiety-disorders-2/anxiety-statistics-college-campuses-need-know/

Pedrelli, P., Nyer, M., Yeung, A., Zulauf, C., & Wilens, T. (2015). College students: Mental health problems and treatment considerations. Academic Psychiatry, 39(5), 1-17. doi: 10.1007/s40596-014-0205-9. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4527955/

Sauer-Zavala, S., Bufka, L., & Wright, C. V. (2016). Beyond worry: How psychologists help with anxiety disorders. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/anxiety.aspx

Tartakovsky, M. (2016). Depression and anxiety among college students. Psych Central. Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/lib/depression-and-anxiety-among-college-students/

Some More Resources:

https://adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/college-students#

http://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/top-5-mental-health-problems-facing-college-students/

https://grownandflown.com/mental-health-in-college/

Now that I have explained anxiety disorders and their effect on college students, let us have a discussion below on it by answering the questions given below:

1.) What type of anxiety disorder do you experience?

2.) When did you develop your anxiety disorder?

3.) What factors led to the development of your anxiety disorder?

4.) How does your anxiety disorder affect your health and day-to-day life?

5.) What coping methods have you found that help you with your anxiety disorder?