According to the American Psychological Association, 87% of Gen Z students in college experience high levels of stress as a result of their education in the 2020 school year.
This psychological stress will eventually turn into academic burnout, a phenomenon that affects a large number of students. This feeling is usually associated with the middle of the semester crisis, just around the time midterm exams are held at most universities and colleges.
The Grand Valley State University counseling center has seen the impact of this increase on students year after year. There is an increase in student awareness from around October until Thanksgiving, when students tend to ask for help with different things in their lives.
Brian Bossick, assistant director of career development services, noted that student counseling needs generally fall into certain general categories.
“You see an intensification of the symptoms of anxiety,” Bossick said. “Depression and relationship problems. In addition to school stress, professional stress and major global stress.
These increases in anxiety and depression are also described as being closely related to factors such as friendships and families.
“(I feel) noticeably more stressed around the middle of the semester with the mid-semesters and social events that typically happen during this time,” said Cole Hammock, junior at GVSU.
With regular classes and midterm exams in addition to plenty of family activities such as Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday season, he explained that it’s easy to let it all get too much at once.
Counseling Center staff have equipped themselves to help students with similar issues, as well as many others. Students who are struggling with general stress and are concerned it may be a more serious problem are encouraged to participate in the Anxiety and Depression Screening underway at this time. This will help students differentiate their feelings and explore the type of stress they themselves are facing.
“It’s a quick and easy way to get a showing and say, ‘Hey, maybe I need to talk to someone,’ Bossick said. just jump online and take a self-test, or even drop by the office. “
While the mid-semester crisis is a very real thing year after year, there are some practices that the counseling center advises students to consider.
The main idea is that students manage their time and if they take extra time out of their day to study and focus on school, to ask themselves, “Where is the time that is taken away from me when I have need more to study? ”
Bossick explained that it’s common for students to get a sleepless night sometimes, but after a few days or even weeks it can turn into a spiral without having time to do activities that were previously priorities.
“Be careful with time and the allocation of certain periods of time,” Bossick said.
This is a subject that Rachel McFall, a second year student at GVSU, can strongly identify with. She explained that she was so overwhelmed with school last year that she cut her hour credits this year, but still feels the pressure this time of year.
“My high standards for myself mean I’m generally a wreck at this point,” McFall said. “I usually end up taking a series of ‘lazy weeks’ in the middle of the year where I do the absolute minimum and try to relive myself.”
This feeling that students are all too familiar with can fortunately be helped by a plethora of resources online or on campus.
The American Psychological Association recommends practicing the “three good things” rule, which is an exercise in which a person reflects on three good things that have happened during the day, regardless of their size. It helps the person stay in touch with themselves and has been shown to reduce the levels of anxiety and depression among practitioners.
The counseling center also has dedicated online meditation spaces, video workshops and other resources available to students at any time. If mindfulness and self-reflection are not your way forward, the counseling center offers one-on-one therapy sessions, group sessions and even skill-based groups that help build the skill-based toolbox. ‘a student for life.
For more information, go to the website https://www.gvsu.edu/counsel/ or follow @gvcounseling on Instagram.
