By Morgan Ritchie
Spring 2022
Stress affects almost everyone, and dealing with it has a wide range of coping mechanisms to help with it. 48% of college students claimed that they have experienced extreme amounts of stress. Students are expected to attend several classes, complete hours of homework, socialize, and be involved in other organizations. Along with increased responsibilities and lack of time management, students are feeling the stress of living alone for the first time. 53% of college students feel that they are alone and have no one to help them. Using drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism can make students’ stress worse and more detrimental to their health. One and four college students feel suicidal or experience suicidal thoughts.
Having a full-time job is equivalent to the workload of a college student. Most will even get a part-time job or internship while being enrolled to either pay for college or to have some spending money. One in four college students is balancing a full-time school schedule and a full-time job. Close to 20% of those students also have children of their own to provide for. These situations have caused some students to be flexible and make sacrifices to be able to stay sane and complete their degrees in a reasonable amount of time. During a four-year program, most colleges give their students guidelines to follow to get them more involved and acclimated to the college atmosphere. Most universities advise incoming college students to join at least three clubs or organizations to get involved with. Each club uses about two to three hours of a student’s time each week that they are participating. Even more, stress is added to athletes because of their dedication to their sport and spending upwards of 8 hours a week practicing.
College is a new experience for most people, moving out of their guardian’s house and into a dorm or apartment with new people and newfound responsibilities. Going to class, keeping up with school work, feeding themselves, getting the proper sleep and bills are some of the biggest changes that students have to go through. Some students even chose a college hundred to thousands of miles away from home which creates even more challenges. Being so far away from home can be very stressful and finding healthy ways to cope with it can be very difficult. Keeping in touch with family and friends from home can help an extreme amount but some still feel lost and hopeless. Most universities offer some type of counseling services but many have been found nonhelpful. Some even make school more stressful for students.
High school classes are usually much easier than college classes and students often don’t have to try to pass their high school classes. Studies have actually shown that college is easier than high school. You have more freedom, you’re learning about something you actually want to do with your life, and you have more free time to work and be with friends and family. Plus a college degree will get you farther than just having a high school diploma. Coming to college is a culture shock when it comes to studying and taking time to pass a class. More time is needed to study and practice the material for a class, meaning better time management is needed. Most college kids learn time management in college after realizing this. Finding study methods and time management skills in the last couple of years of high school has helped many students transition much easier to the workloads in college. Making oneself do homework without being told. For example, in college homework is usually due only one day each week. Remembering to do the homework can become hard as students just say “I’ll do it later” until it gets pushed back to the last minute, adding even more stress. Planning ahead, creating a routine, delegating, and identifying things that waste time is key to a successfully planned schedule.
Maintaining a proper diet and sleeping a full night helps more than students know. Buying a McDonald’s meal for nine dollars sounds much more appealing than buying groceries and then cooking a well-balanced meal. 36% of college students have a improper diet called “food insecurity.” Unhealthy food options are easier to get and cheaper to buy than healthier options. Many on-campus diets consist of frozen or processed food, most often containing dangerous chemicals. This results in at least 90% of college students eating off campus at least once a week. A “sleep debt” means eventually your body will want to make up for the lack of sleep it got. Not getting enough sleep may prevent students from focusing, maintaining, and performing well during their classes. Exercising to counteract the studying time is important and can help students have an easier time falling asleep and letting them get more rest.
A lot of people have their parents paying for their college education or at least helping pay for it. One and four sets of parents say they aren’t putting enough pressure on their children to do well in college. 47% of college students thinks that parents are putting too much pressure on their children to do well in college. Several parents have an idea of what they want their children’s careers to be and usually try to enforce or encourage them to take that path. Meeting parents’ expectations can be overwhelming for most college attendees. Getting straight A’s in high school is much easier than getting straight A’s in college. Passing a class whether it be a C, B, or A is good enough but accepting that as a younger college student is hard. On average, college students spend on average 17 plus hours a week studying and doing homework. Fear of getting in trouble, parent’s refusing to pay for their education, and the feeling of failure has caused many to turn to dangerous coping mechanisms.
Historically, college students have struggled with drugs and alcohol being a stress-release outlet. 60% of college students use alcohol as a way of coping with their stress 26% of college students have used ADHD medication to focus on their school work. Along with stress relief, doing drugs and alcohol have become the cool and popular thing to do even though both can cause death. Alcohol poisoning is when extreme amounts of alcohol are consumed in a short amount of time. Roughly 2,200 people die from it every year. Drugs can range from prescription medications to hard drugs like Marijuana, Heroin, or Cocaine. These drugs are extremely addictive and long term can cause people to do some things that will throw their life off track forever. Most people are admitted to an abuse treatment center at the age of 18-30 years old, the exact ages of most college kids.
A large amount of stress on anyone, especially college students, can cause some mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. Around 41% of college students have depression or signs of anxiety. Dealing with these is a continuous loop with drugs and alcohol. Students get depressed so they drink which makes them more depressed. Alcohol is a depressant which means the more a person drinks the sadder they can get. Too much alcohol can damage the brain, making that person more depressed and can cause more illnesses. Taking drugs can create a euphoric effect which helps ease tension and stress, but too many drugs can cause harm to the brain and even to the body. Studies have shown that 2 million full-time college students have done illicit drugs in the past month. They can also make people braver and take risks they wouldn’t dare do sober. For some, it’s talking to a girl or boy but for others, it could be robbing or harming someone. One intoxicated night can cause one person’s entire life to be spent contained in 4 white brick walls. Some students try to have an intervention with their friends when they’re concerned about substance abuse but that is not taught in school so trying to help someone correctly can have the opposite effect.
Relationships are very important in college, as a kid many people find themselves believing that they will find their soulmate in college and live happily ever after. Around 77% of college students were in or currently are in a long-distance relationship. In this day, college relationships are most often considered “no strings attached.” Many students find themselves falling in love only to find out that the person they’ve been obsessing with only wants to use them for sex. 31% of long-distance relationships fail because of the lack of sex and intimacy. Several of these heartbroken people find themselves doing the same thing to others after their heartbreak. Leading to something called “hookup culture.” Students use other students to get a sex fix and then leave them for another person. Finding a relationship in this day can be very difficult and leads to some believing they’ll never get married and have a happy life. Upwards of 90% of college students believe their lives are being controlled by “hookup culture.” As young adults, many find new ways to fit in and walk their way up the social status. Many find themselves trying to sleep with a “popular” person or get their body count up to seem cooler. A body count means the amount of people someone has had sex with.
Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for students 15-24 years old. College men are even more at risk, studies show that men are 4 to 6 times more likely to commit suicide. The likelihood even continues to go up the more times someone has attempted suicide and failed. International, first-year, and LGBTQ+ students are at higher risk of suicide in college. Everyone wants to fit in but doing that changes from person to person. Not being able to find a group to fit into can cause loneliness. That is one thing people feel leading up to committing suicide. Usually, after two years the feeling of depression subsides but for some, it becomes a deep routed issue. “Times flies when you’re having fun” can be true but being depressed for two years can feel like an eternity. Patterns of suicide and depression aren’t taught well in college leading many to believe that their peers are just fine until they’re gone.
Within this new generation, a new enemy has been causing a threat to worsen many people’s mental health. Social media gives false hope about what a happy life should be and can be a curse to many people’s mental health. When college students see someone with a less intense degree plan at the beach or on vacation it can make them question why they chose their degree path. Students, as most people do, think about the past and less about the present and future. Wishing that they could’ve gone on the expensive trips and skipped their eight am class. Along with unrealistic life goals, social media can set unrealistic beauty and health goals. Each person and body is different but yet some will compare everything about themselves to someone online that they’ve never met. Graduating from college is a big achievement. But for some, going into “real life” like having a nine to five job can be very daunting.
At Oklahoma State University, students are offered several options to cope with stress. Counseling and an organization called “Pete’s Pet Posse” are on call for students. Oklahoma State’s counseling has 4 options, individual, group, grief, and substance abuse counseling. The downside to individual counseling is after 4 sessions, there is a fee that is charged each time. Not to mention getting a counseling appointment is very backed up and can take several months before a student gets to see a counselor. Pete’s Pet Posse is an organization that provides professionally trained and nationally certified therapy dogs. They are scheduled to be around campus every day for students to pet and see as they go to class. Clubs around campus can even schedule some of the Pet Posse to come to their events. Oklahoma State has even provided ideas for students to cope with their mental health. Things like cooking a nice meal and taking a nap have proven to help
Oklahoma State University provides plenty of mental health treatments but it just doesn’t seem enough. Students feel pressured to schedule counseling appointments because to do so, a phone call has to be made to the office which students don’t want to do. They’d rather go online and make an appointment that way and avoid confrontation until they’re actually in person with a counselor. Oklahoma State is one of the universities that require most freshmen students to be in three club organizations and with a minimum of 12 hours of classwork. Pete’s pet policy is very helpful and does help relieve a lot of stress when going to class. Some teachers have even scheduled some of the therapy dogs to come into their class while they are teaching so students can pet the dogs.
Exercise out has proven to help with mental stability throughout all ages of life. Oklahoma State has just remodeled its campus gym to include a pool, workout classes, an indoor track, weight machines, and cardio machines. Students on campus have felt that exercising regularly at the new facility has been very helpful to their Mental Health. Studies have shown that even doing a 30-minute incline walk on the treadmill improves both physical and mental health. Studying takes away more from the body mentally than physical activity so including physical activity in students’ everyday schedules will greatly improve their outlook on life.
Greek life is a big part of Oklahoma State, roughly 15% of Oklahoma State’s student body is in Greek life. Greek life provides friends and connections that will last a lifetime. Even though it is an extreme time commitment, especially during homecoming, many students would do it again. Some students might not enjoy Greek life which is why there are several different options for clubs and organizations. There are groups for anything from exercising to fish to painting to debate. There is something for everyone students just have to find the right one. Students wish there was a survey that they could take about their likes and dislikes that would help them choose a club and find their place on campus.
Studies have also shown that being outdoors in a sunny and happy environment can help improve students’ moods. Adding outdoor activities like more volleyball courts, basketball courts, sitting areas, and outdoor activities for students would be very beneficial for both Oklahoma State and the student body. Creating an inviting environment outside by adding umbrellas to seating areas, better food options and even bringing outside vendors onto campus would be helpful.
Stress affects everyone in many different ways. Protecting college students which will be our next generation of innovators, teachers, and workers should be our priority to benefit our society. Learning about better ways to handle stress well effect generations to come and improve the mental health epidemic.
Works Cited
Governor’s State University. “Why is Suicide So Common Among College Students?” Governor’s State University, 2022, https://www.govst.edu/suicide-prevention/Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (2014).
Suicide among college and university students in the United States. Waltham, MA: Education Development Center, Inc. https://www.sprc.org/sites/default/files/migrate/library/SuicideAmongCollegeStudentsIn US.pdf
New York University. “Stress.” New York University, 2022. https://www.nyu.edu/life/safety-health-wellness/live-well-nyu/priority-areas/stress.html
Healthline. Timothy Legg, 2017. https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/college-students American
Addiction Centers. Stacy Mosel, March 2022. https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/college Timely MD Alan
Dennington, July 2021. https://timely.md/blog/substance-abuse-in-college-students/
Foundation for a drug-free world, 2022 https://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/alcohol/short-term-long-term-effects.html
NYU, Nutrition, 2022. https://www.nyu.edu/life/safety-health-wellness/live-well-nyu/priority-areas/nutrition.html#:~:text=Despite%20the%20significant%20implications%20of,behaviors%20such%20 as%20meal%20skipping
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