Saturday, April 14, 2012

When Should College Students Consider Getting Help with their Problems?


When Should College Students Consider Getting Help with their Problems? -------Nkechi Anyanwu
  Researchers say that college students experience more stress and are more depressed today than in the past. Academic circumstances are said to create the most stress for students such as tests and finals, grades and competition, professors and class environment, too many demands, papers, career and future success. Personal circumstances said to cause the most stress for students are relationships, finances, parental conflicts and expectations, and roommate conflicts. These daily events and life hassles clearly wear out ones coping skills at a certain point and can also affect the student’s health. The effects involve the classic fight and flight response with all the psychological attendant behavior such as, raised blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, impaired immune function, GI track problems, and so on.   
    One should consider getting help when psychological stress lingers and interferes with the person’s sense of wellbeing and ability to function, feelings that one is unable to cope effectively, hopelessness or depressed feelings, and when one starts to experience physical symptoms that have no underlying cause.  
      Talking to someone when things are bothering them is one of the most effective ways of handling stress. When talking to someone about the problems, some people may prefer to join support groups or individual counseling; some may do better with career planning and relationship workshops. The student should find out what services works better for him/her and address the problem immediately. Furthermore, when fostering a healthy adult life, some things that can help buffer stress are; exercise, engaging in healthy eating and maintain a reasonable body weight, control alcohol intake and avoid smoking, and engage in responsible sexual behaviors.     
        

2 comments:

  1. I think it's important for students to have access to counseling through the student health center. I know at Mizzou they had a set number of free sessions with a therapist and then at a very discounted price students could attend additional sessions. I don't know what Pitt State offers. It would be interesting to look into. -Jennifer Hancock

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  2. I am currently attending individual sessions with a therapist and although I have only had two sessions, it has been very helpful. I have been doing a lot of "soul searching" lately and I thought talking to a therapist might give me some insight. I can freely talk to my family about my life and any problems but it helps to hear an outsider's perspective and to be able to look at a situation from another view point. Talking to a therapist has been helpful for me to open up more about myself and draw on my feelings that I have not examined by myself. The Pitt State Health center offers the first session free of charge and then additional sessions are $15 for one hour. If anyone is interested, the process for scheduling an appointment requires face-to-face contact at the main desk.

    -Jacob Hughes

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