The various academic pressures inflicted upon students cause increased stress and anxiety which can impact mental health.
Although everyone has experienced the pressures of stress and anxiety at least once in their lives, many do not understand the difference between them or that there is one at all. While stress is “a response to a threat in a situation”, anxiety is the body’s reaction to that stress (“Anxiety and Disorders at School” & “Stress”). There are many different types of anxiety. The most common anxiety disorders found in teenagers and young adults follow: Generalized Anxiety Disorder is classified by the “persistent, excessive and unrealistic worry about everyday things.” Meanwhile Panic Disorder is the spontaneous panic attacks …show more content…
Last but not least, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is diagnosed as a continuous reaction to traumatic events (“Understand the facts”). In 2012, Boston University participated in a “Healthy Minds” study dedicated to explore the mental health of students on campuses. Based on BU’s results, the percentage of students with major depression at 22% and students diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at 21% were nearly identical (“Anxiety and Depression”). According to APA’s, Amy Novotney’s research and the 2013 National College Health Assessment, “about one-third of U.S. college students had difficulty functioning in the last 12 months due to depression, and almost one-half said they felt overwhelming anxiety in the last year.” The survey researched and examined about 125,000 to get their results (“Students Under Pressure” 36). Today, the most common psychiatric illnesses that affect both children and adults are anxiety disorders. Infact, the estimated number of American adults who suffer from anxiety disorders is approximately 40 million. Although these disorders can …show more content…
The build up of this stress can create work-distracting anxiety, which in turn can lead to students taking drastic measures in order to maintain their GPAs. In many instances, the pressure placed among students to obtain good grades can lead to severe anxiety, plagiarism, and even cheating (“Pressure for good grades often leads to high stress, cheating, professors say”). According to Louise Douce, PhD, who is the vice president’s assistant of student life at Ohio State University, students will not be able to learn to their full potential if anxiety stands in the way. When discussing mental health, she states that “for students to be able to learn at their peak capacity, they need to be physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually well” (“Students Under pressure” 36). Some say that minor stress can be a good thing, it can motivate someone or the adrenaline pumping through the bloodstream will give someone the ability to do supernatural things. However, according to the highly-esteemed Psychologist, Mary Alvord, constant stress may lead to chronic stress. This can later cause panic and paralysis as well as damaging health and altering the behavior of mental health forever (“School Stress Takes a Toll on Health”). Based on statistics that arose from the 2013 NCHA survey, it has been reported that “more that 30% of students who seek services for mental health issues report that they have