Success in school despite the anxiety

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College is a tough and stressful time for most everyone, so I can’t imagine how it would feel with the anxiety you’re experiencing. You finally get yourself to get out of bed and walk to campus, only to be overcome with anxiety just outside your classroom door. So you go back home.

The anxiety will compound on itself. You were too anxious to go to class, so you skipped it. Then you got more anxious because now you’re behind in class. So you miss more classes. Your grades suffer. And you’re even more anxious.

That’s no way to live. But you’re not alone. About 50% of individuals with borderline will suffer from panic attacks, and school is a major trigger.

Chances are that if you have amplified anxiety around school, then school is also very important to you and you want to be successful. Here are some simple tips to help with anxiety in school:

Use a planner! A planner can come in whatever form works best for you. Maybe that’s an app, and you can choose from the several options for both mobile and desktop/laptop. For me, a physical paper planner worked best while I was in college. A planner can help you to keep track of class assignments (and the tasks you’ll need to do to complete them), and non-scholastic commitments.

Keep a master list of major due dates. Get a piece of paper and the syllabus for each class. Write down, in sequential order, major due dates for each class on the same list.

For example:

Sept. 14th: SFL 330 Unit 1 exam
Sept. 17th: HUM 301 Research Paper Draft #1 Due
Sept. 17th: Span 450 Verbal Exam
Sept. 21st: Psych 336 Debate

Put this list at the front of your school binder or anywhere you can reference it quickly and frequently.  It will tell you at a glance what you have coming up, and what you don’t have to stress about just yet.  When you finish the assignment, cross it off the list!  Crossing off a list item, I am certain, is the best part of any day for a person with anxiety.  (Pro tip: If you make class specific lists in addition to the master list, you get to cross off the master list items twice!)

Stick to a routine.  And the routine doesn’t have to be what everyone else does.  Some people study best on campus, while others do better at home in their pajamas.  Try out different locations, different times of day, and different lengths of time until you find a fit that’s best for you.  Maybe it’s the fifth floor of the library in a quiet corner behind the doctoral dissertations.  Maybe it’s at a park up the canyon.  Maybe it’s 30 minutes at a time followed by a 10 minute break, or 90 minutes at a time followed by a 30 minute break.  Everyone is different.  The goal is to find what helps you be more successful, and less stressed.

If you need additional help managing, it may be helpful to know that anxiety disorders are covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). You’re likely eligible for an accommodation that will make it easier for you to be successful at school. You can go to the school’s disability service office for more information and to learn what documentation you’ll need (like a doctor’s note).

Common accommodations that could be helpful in managing anxiety around school include extended exam times, different exam locations (for example, in your professor’s office instead of the school’s testing center), and permission to audio record lectures (so that you can focus on notes and participation in class, and listen to the recording again later).

You may need professional help, and there’s no shame in that. A mental health therapist can help you identify where your anxiety stems from, and steps you can take to overcome it. You can also talk to a medical doctor or psychiatrist about medications that may be helpful for you. There are many ways to treat anxiety, and you’ll probably need to try out a few different methods before you find the one that works for you. It could be a long and arduous journey, but it will be worth it.

“Anxiety is nothing but repeatedly re-experiencing failure in advance. What a waste.” — Seth Godin”

Explore Further

1 Alternative Treatments for Depression and Anxiety on MedicineNet.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2017, from http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52227