Guide On How To Deal With College Anxiety

For the new college student, moving into a new environment could be very stressful- especially if you already have firm roots! That’s nothing to be ashamed of. 

Having to exchange your small group of high school friends, video games in your room and of course, family, for a place where adjusting to the semester is paramount, having to keep a check on the quizzes and getting the papers done before the following morning; can be pretty exhausting. Plus, you have to make new friends to keep your social life active, visit the gym to be fit…the list goes on and on… 

College could be frustrating especially if you are new in town. That said, we have collated a guide on how you could easily manoeuvre the anxiety that accompanies being in college: 

Be Brave; Cowardice Goes Unrewarded 

What does anxiety mean to you? Being scared of messing up your first meeting with a friend or giving in to fears of failure about a particular course… Whatever it might mean to you, you’ve got to face it. If you feel your social life would be a lonely one in the upcoming month, walk over to the dinner table, introduce yourself and make new friends. If you are troubled with thoughts of failure concerning a particular course, talk regularly to the professor in charge about your fears.

At first, you shot at facing your fears might seem as a suicidal attempt, but trust me, you would be grateful for taking that leap of believe. Just take things slowly- don’t be in haste.

What are Friends For? Call a Friend When Scared

Sincerely, there are extreme scenarios that would occur in college that you would knock you off balance and leave you completely at sea over the case. If you are faced with such cases, don’t fail to reach out for help.

These cases could be as worse as depression and as simple as not understanding an assignment. Talk to someone about the cycle of thoughts you find yourself revolving in; over and over again. Get essay writing help or clarification about an arithmetic topic. Whatever you do, voice out! 

Use Your Time Judiciously 

Where most students miss it in college is paying too much attention to an aspect of their lives; neglecting others. Thus, when the time comes to handle something important in relation to those neglected aspects, they develop cold feet and become fidgety. So, a reasonable thing to do would be sharing your time wisely amongst your responsibility.

For instance, if you were a guitar player and a student in the science class; definitely, you would love to excel at both. Spending the whole of your time playing the guitar would have negative consequences on your academics. Again, abandoning your guitar for science talks only might mean messing up in competitions. So, you have got to remain balanced and push off anxiety. 

Break It Down 

The human mind could be tricky at times; but, at the same time, it is easy to tame. A cause of anxiety would be trying to do the impossible in a single day; trying to cover a whole textbook in 24 hours. Instead of doing this, go for feasible aims. Remember to arrange your aims in an organized manner; preferably in bullet points.

At the start of each day, jot what you would want to accomplish when your 24 hours are up- and strictly follow your plan throughout the entire day. Surely, you would have a productive and anxious free day. 

Wrapping Up 

Learn to identify the red flags of anxiety which may include procrastination, change in sleeping and feeding habits, social isolation and overwhelming feelings of anger and frustration. As a means of counter, develop coping skills such as meditation habits, progressive muscle relaxation and the act of deep breathing. If you follow these steps, in no time, anxiety would be gone. 

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