Editorial: Anxiety Alert

02/12/09 - Universities and colleges across the country have performed studies on the relationship between stress and college students. Anxiety has become more of a disease than anything, and while everyone seems to be affected by it, students can be hit the worst sometimes.Not a day goes by on the Kingston campus when the phrase, "I have so much to do," doesn't catch someone's ear.

The fact is, college students now have more to do than ever before. There's more pressure to have an impressive resume in the current job market, so students not only have to achieve decent grades and get involved on campus, but they have to participate in some sort of experiential learning.

This becomes a problem when most internships are unpaid, meaning students are more likely to tack them on during the school year than during the summer time when they rely on other paying jobs to survive.

And as education has progressed, professors are giving students more time-consuming assignments involving technology. On top of student activities - be it the Underwater Hockey Club or Student Senate - when is there time for sleep?

Newsweek featured an article this week about how the increase of stress and anxiety, not just in students, has caused a heavy reliance on anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax and Paxil.

But while a college student today might have 10 times the responsibility of some college students 50 years ago, that anxiety that students express, for the most part, is still natural. In this case, drugs like these are said to act more as performance enhancers for people who don't actually need them. This can be dangerous, especially since even Xanax labels warn the drug can be addictive.

In the Newsweek interview, historian Andrea Tone said using "lifestyle drugs" as performance enhancers is a complicated issue, because a lot depends on how much stock society puts in those drugs.

She also adds, "By the way: coffee is a performance enhancer, but because it's not considered a pharmaceutical commodity, we don't stigmatize its use."

Maybe there's something stressed students should watch out for.

However, there are ways to combat anxiety even when the workload seems especially impossible. The University of Rhode Island Counseling Center can be helpful when dealing with time management issues. They might suggest students take on a little less or cut back on some time-wasters here and there, or they might just assist students in getting a little more organized. Sometimes that's all it takes.

It's especially helpful when with outside factors, including family issues, social problems and depression. The center, located in room 217 in Roosevelt Hall, provides free services for students.