Battling stress, anxiety necessary for survival in college

By Michael Castellano

Why the hell are we all so stressed out? According to Nina Riccio, author of the internet article titled "Do You Suffer from High Anxiety?" 19 million Americans suffer from some type of anxiety disorder. The more astonishing fact, however, is that in our age group there is a 7.4% prevalence rate for anxiety disorders. That means that anxiety disorders are among the most frequently diagnosed disorders in our generation.

Cathleen Henning, a leading doctor in the field of stress and anxiety, conducted a study and found out that half of the teenagers who skip school suffer from anxiety disorders. To complement these findings, a Bernstein study found that skipping school was often a cry for help by adolescents in an attempt to deal with anxiety. If you find yourself not going to classes, it might not just be because you're hung-over; it might be because you just have way too much stuff going on in your head or heart.

Of course, there are other, more obvious indicators that mark anxiety. Over a century ago, a man named DaCosta identified anxiety as a condition which he described as possessing an "irritable heart." Javad Kashani and Syed Husain outline some common symptoms of anxiety in their book Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents: withdrawal, over-sensitivity, stomach ache, and tearful apprehensions. I'm sure that most of you have experienced some of these symptoms right before finals week, or during an important soccer game, or when you got written up for peeing in the Swig elevator for the third time-and I am sure that we are all far too familiar with that gaping hole anxiety seems to punch in our stomachs before something big is due.

Sophomore Alison Larsen reports having suffered from test anxiety. "When receiving a test, my palms get sweaty, and my heart races," states Larsen. She says this type of anxiety only started when she entered college. When asked about why she feels this way, her only response was, "I don't know-I guess it just happens to some people."

That seems to be the general consensus, but then why do our parents and grandparents think that we are all so crazy for being so stressed out? The fact is that this generation is the most overstressed generation in history. And it makes sense right? I mean, with all of the religious persecution, and global wars, and plagues, and destitution that.

We are living in the most prosperous era in history, in an area where a ridiculous amount of wealth and influence is concentrated; we are the richest, healthiest, and best educated generation ever-what are we all stressing about?

Riccio also stated that people in our generation "with generalized anxiety disorders worry continuously, and often about things that they cannot control." It is incredible that we have the ability of make ourselves nervous over nothing. Here is some interesting food for thought.

If you do not want to suffer from anxiety-don't. Fear (and the release of adrenaline) is the natural, biological part of the "fight or flight" response that we as humans all have as defense mechanisms; however, anxiety is completely mental and counterproductive.

The reason so many of us have anxiety is because actually fear failing at one of these tasks. We have the ability to create fear when there is not an actual danger or problem. It is our ability to speculate and our facility to concoct many worst-case scenarios that make us feel anxious. So what can we do to ameliorate this stress?

Kashani illustrates how to utilize self-control procedures so that you can help curb your anxiety. Try breathing deeply, and talk to yourself; assure yourself that there is nothing to be anxious about. Try not to dwell on problems in your head. It sounds cliche, but try to remember how wonderful things are. If you just look around Santa Clara, you will see many, many reasons to be stoked that you are in such a sweet little college community. Instead of lamenting over the possibility of doing poorly in physics, think of what a blessing it is to be able to learn in a prestigious American university. Instead of beating yourself up over the fact that a girl won't go out with you, just thank your lucky stars you don't have halitosis-and if you do; well that sucks, but at least you're not dead.

If none of these procedures seem to work, try the patented method of Nathan Holste, a SCU freshman. Whenever you have to do something really important, and you're getting stressed out about it-just take a nap. Set your alarm clock, but know deep down inside that your not going to hear it, and just sleep right through the thing that you were stressing about. It won't do you any good to try and do something difficult (like, oh, I don't know, take one of those many God-forsaken tests that usually seem to serve more as pain-driven character builders than potentially helpful mind-expanders) when it seems like your head is filled with dischordant background noise.

And remember, you can always put things off until later. For details on this technique, see Nathan on the first floor of Swig in his room-only knock quietly; he's probably sleeping.

Our generation moves at an exponentially increasing speed, much like our technology. We have so many commitments and obligations, and we are absolutely terrified of not getting an A on our chem test, or not scoring that game-winning soccer goal, or not having a sparkling behavioral record. We all need to mature a little and see the absurdity inherent in our anal retentive ways. At Santa Clara, I think that we really should take advantage of our surroundings; and every once in a while, stop to smell the roses.

û Michael Castellano is a freshman.