College Students & Stress

College is usually thought of as being a fun-filled 4 years, but new information is showing the toll stress is taking on students.

College has always been stressful, but nowadays it seems even more students are having trouble handling that stress than ever before. UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute has been conducting a survey of college students since 1965. This year the research showed that freshman are experiencing and reporting more stress than anytime in the last 25 years, both for their first year in college and even for their senior year in high school, a time most of them are stressing out trying to get into their choice of colleges.

Only 52%, barely half of college freshman, rated themselves as “above average” when it came to emotional health. And college counselors agree since they report seeing more students because of stress and depression. Plus they say more of them tend to arrive to college already on some type of psychiatric medication.

Part of the reason for this increase in stress is that more than ever before, college students are worried about the bad economy and whether college is even worth it---will they get a job once they graduate? And although this survey just looked at freshman, upperclassmen report even more stress, especially as they get closer to graduation.

If you have a college student, or one about to enter college your best bet is to simply be a great listener and find out what they have to say about the things they are going through at school.