College students and stress: Learning to cope

Some people might tell you that college can be the best four years of your life, but that might not be a realistic expectation for some. If you’re feeling stressed, you aren’t alone.  College can be an incredibly overwhelming time.

However,  while this transition can be challenging, there are generally ways to take care of yourself and ensure that you find enjoyment and friendship in your college years. By understanding your triggers and finding small ways to alleviate them every day, you can thrive throughout your college years and create memories you can look back on fondly.

Read on to learn more about different strategies that can help you to lower college stress. 

What are the physical and emotional symptoms of stress?

Stress is generally regarded as the body's fight-or-flight reaction to external stimuli. It can be a natural human reaction when faced with situations that may be challenging, dangerous or overwhelming. While stress can affect people differently, there are a handful of common physical and emotional symptoms to look out for: 

Physical symptoms:

• Twitching or shaking
• Chest pain
• Trouble sleeping
• Heartburn
• Nausea or other gastrointestinal distress 
• Irregular bowel movements
• Irregular periods
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Unusual weight gain or loss

Emotional symptoms:

• Restlessness
• A lack of patience
• Feeling sad or depressed
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Experiencing a reduced desire to participate in hobbies or activities you once enjoyed

No matter what symptoms you may be experiencing, your healthcare team and therapist can be helpful resources to you in this time — possibly supporting you in finding strategies that work for your specific needs.

What are your triggers?

Understanding the underlying causes of your stress can be one of the first steps in alleviating it. You might consider taking some time to think about your past week and the times you felt stressed or overwhelmed. If you’re not sure where to start, or feel overwhelmed, you’re not alone. We’ve listed some of the most common stress-related triggers that could affect your college experience: 

Being away from friends, family and a familiar home

For many college students, going to university might be the first time they are genuinely living away from friends, family and the home that has been familiar to them for so long. Everything might feel new—the food, the environment, the people and the living arrangements. 

When stress or the newness of it all overwhelms you, you may want to go to a close friend or family member for support. If those people are no longer near you, you might consider calling them on the phone or speaking via video chat. While this physical separation can be tough during the first few months for some, having someone available to you virtually (or on “speed dial”) can help the transition to feel more approachable.

We do want to note that it might take time to accept that the support group you are used to isn't as readily available as it once was—but that doesn’t mean that your experience will always feel stressful or overwhelming. 

If you’re looking for a sense of familiarity, it might help to fill your new space—whether it’s a dorm room, apartment or a common house—with mementos from home. You can decorate your bed with your favorite blanket from home, cover your walls with photos of friends and family or spray a fragrance that promotes nostalgia. This way, your surroundings might not feel as unfamiliar.

Working a part or full-time job to pay for tuition

The cost of university has been on an upward trend for the last 20 years, according to recent details. While some people may receive help from family, many students might face tuition costs alone. This can  mean they need to pick up a part-time or full-time job on top of their classes, which can be stressful for some. Moving out of your parents' house also means you may have many more bills to pay. Food, electricity, recreation and textbooks can be common ones to consider in a college student’s budget.

Time management skills are considered by many to be necessary when juggling both a job and college courses. You can rely on communication skills to ensure that you have the most effective, streamlined experience as you transition from work to school. 

For example, you can ensure that your employer knows you are attending college classes, asking in advance for flexibility when you need shifts switched to study or rest. 

Organizational skills can also help you as you navigate this transition. You can use a wall calendar and a daily planner to organize your weekly schedule. You might begin by color coding, noting the due dates of essential assignments and exams. You can then plan your work schedule around the extra time needed to fulfill those duties and pivot your time management flow as each item comes due. 

Many generally agree: The more organized you are, the more you can feel like you have control over your life. 

It can be helpful to schedule in time for rest as well! While your schedule may be busy, it can still be important to take time to breathe and recharge every once in a while.

The pressure of receiving good grades

One of college students' most common sources of stress can be pressure to succeed academically. 

This can feel especially overwhelming, as this can directly affect one’s self-esteem around their academic capabilities. It can also have real-world effects on your finances, living situation and more. 

Even if you have been a straight-A student your entire life, college may be the first time you receive a less-than-adequate grade on a test or assignment. While this may be disheartening, you don’t have to let it ruin the rest of your semester.

Here are some tips that can help to increase your quality of life if you are experiencing academic stress: 

• Study as much as you can. Even if you don't have hours to commit, you can try to refresh your knowledge after every class for five or ten minutes to commit it to memory. You can do this by making flashcards and viewing them as you walk or travel, wait for an appointment or have a few spare moments.
• Get enough sleep and maintain a healthy diet. Living off a few hours of sleep and flooding your nervous system with caffeine can exacerbate stress symptoms. You might consider paying special attention to your sleep and diet to ensure that your needs are being met. 
• Familiarize yourself with the testing environment. If possible, you can try to study in the same room where you will take the test, so it doesn’t feel overwhelming or different on exam day. Certain sounds, scents or visual images from the environment can help trigger your memory when you’re taking the test.

Planning your free time

Up until now, you might have felt as if your entire life has been planned out for you. This can be a common phenomenon for many people. After all—if you’re in college, you might have gone to elementary school, then middle school and high school—arriving to where you are right now. You might have also had to take a break and work through different life transitions and needs of your family, arriving at college as you would have been able to do so. 

In either case, your flow of life and plans might have  been based around school holidays, work schedules or other outside forces—which means that what was once filled with structure might perhaps feel like a blank page that’s about to be filled with new and unfamiliar experiences. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can try to rid yourself of all expectations. You might ask yourself: When was the last time something went exactly as planned? No matter how much you may think you have everything planned out, anything can change in an instant. Thinking about what sort of job you will have, what sort of relationship you will be in, and what your financial situation will be years from now might just overwhelm you (and may not be the best use of time). 

Instead, you can give yourself a general idea of how you want to live your life after graduation and write down a list of ways to begin working towards that goal. This list may include a future career you are striving for, financial independence or a location where you want to live. Whatever it is, you can then try to take small daily steps to work towards it. Breaking larger goals into smaller steps can make them much easier to manage.

Relationships

Generally speaking, you're often surrounded by hundreds, possibly thousands of new people at college. There can be so much potential to make new friends, develop romantic relationships and connect with professors that may help you further your career down the road. 

However, many might leave deep, meaningful friendships at home to go to college. It may seem like too much of an effort to start meeting new people, having small talk and slowly developing a more profound friendship. But ultimately, many find that it’s worth it. 

If you’re feeling reluctant toward new connections at this time, you might avoid putting too much pressure on yourself to make tons of friends quickly. 

You may meet someone you instantly connect with tomorrow, or it may take a whole semester to find someone you feel comfortable around. 

As you walk through the process of forging new connections, you might consider focusing on yourself first— taking courses that interest you, picking up a new hobby, or spending time around the local student center. If you start focusing on your interests, there may be a high chance that you will meet others who have those same interests. 

How can online therapy help people who are in college? 

It can feel overwhelming to keep up with the demands of college life. That’s why virtual intervention formats (such as online therapy can be so useful—connecting many to resources that they need to thrive. 

Is online therapy effective? 

In 2022, A study published in BMC Psychiatry found that online therapy can be highly effective in reducing the psychological distress that can be associated with college students. 

Quantifiably measured gains were noted to be the same across in-person and online therapeutic methods, suggesting that online therapy can be just as effective as in-person therapeutic methods. Online therapy can also be more discreet and affordable than in-person therapy.