How Much Stress Is Too Much? Managing Anxiety in College

“The best four years of my life.”  

Around the time when you left for college, there’s probably about a 97 percent chance that someone said these words to you. Sighing wistfully, eyes glazed over with nostalgia, this person reminisced about wild parties and the unrestrained freedom of youth, then cautioned you to cherish each moment before it all passes in the blink of an eye.

College gets a pretty glorified reputation, especially in the minds of those who haven’t written a paper or taken an economics exam in a couple of decades. But let’s be real. College isn’t all toga parties and sunbathing in the quad. You’re living away from home for the first time, managing a packed schedule, and trying to maintain a good GPA as well as a social life. You might even sometimes try to get some sleep. The bottom line: college is a stressful place.  

Naturally, everyone will get overwhelmed occasionally. But what happens when the stressing becomes the norm and not the exception?

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders affect approximately 9.1 percent of college students and are among the most common mental health problems on college campuses.

What classifies an anxiety disorder?

“Anxiety disorder” is a pretty broad term: it refers to generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder, as well as specific phobias.

These disorders cover a wide range of symptoms, but they are all serious disorders stemming from uncontrollable anxiety. Many are often accompanied by panic attacks, an episode of sudden and intense panic coupled with physical symptoms like chest pain and rapid breathing. 

Lindsey, a senior at Wake Forest University, started getting occasional panic attacks in high school. “I’ll start sweating, my heart feels like it’s about to beat out of my chest, and I’ll be breathing really quickly, but it still feels like I can’t get enough air, which is a really scary feeling,” she says. “Sometimes, it will almost feel like my throat is closing up.”