College Kids: An Inside Look at The Struggle with Mental Health
A variety of outlets can influence young adults’ mental health, especially in the age of social media. From unrealistic beauty standards as a result of photoshop and cosmetic surgery being normalized, to brutal competition in college and when entering the workforce being incomparable to that of just 20 years ago, “mental health problems are on the rise among adolescents and young adults” (Rosenberg, 2019). According to the American Psychological Association, Anxiety is the top concern among young adults, with 41.6% of college students self-reporting that they face it on a day-to-basis in a recent survey.
So, why has anxiety become commonplace in the college community? According to Paradigm, a treatment center, there are 7 major causes of anxiety in college students: high expectations, hormones, brain development, parental disapproval, peer pressure, drinking and drug use, and depression. This time in a young adults life is filled with a lot of pressure to compete with their peers in the current education system, high expectations to perform exceptionally well in academics and extracurriculars in order to later compete in the workforce, whilst many are also experimenting with alcohol and drugs, all while their hormones are going crazy and their brains are still developing. Needless to say, it’s a confusing and sometimes frustrating time in everyone’s lives, especially with the rise in social media.
To get an inside look into the world of an anxious college student, I spoke to Tommy Raftis, a 20-year-old nearing the end of his second year at Colorado State University. Raftis is a singer/songwriter and musician and he’s majoring in communications with a minor in music, sports, and stage production. Below is an interview that encompasses Raftis’ accounts of his battles with anxiety.
Q: When did you first begin battling anxiety?
A: My first, like, noticeable encounter with anxiety was before I had to get in front of all my high school classmates and sing.
Q: Can you describe what that experience felt like?
A: My heart started pounding and my palms got super sweaty and my body just felt super abnormal.
Q: How long did it last?
A: Until I started singing I guess. But I was still anxious. I wasn’t, like conscious of it though. Then the anxiety kind of got replaced with adrenaline.
Q: Would you say that you struggle with anxiety often or only occasionally?
A: I would say more often now because of this whole lockdown and Corona virus not letting us do impulsive things. Before covid, if you were bored, you could go out to eat and sit down at the restaurants but now everything is take-out. So, you can only really eat, like, by yourself at your house for the most part. I also can’t really spontaneously go to the gym if I’m feeling restless- I have to make reservations and I don’t plan in advance like that.
Q: What would you say the main causes of your anxiety tend to be on a day-to-day basis?
A: The lack of distractions to ease the amount of thoughts that are going on in my head. My head typically tends to spiral if I’m left alone with my thoughts for too long without a distraction.
Q: Do you think social media has an affect on your anxiety levels and overall mental health? Why or why not?
A: Yes, I believe it has a huge affect on mental health but I tend to stay away from it because of that fact.
Q: In what ways can social media affect mental health at the college-aged level?
A: I think it sparks feelings of jealous as a viewer and to me it seems like there’s a lot of misplaced admiration for certain figures on social media. A lot of my friends idolize this guy named Dan Bilzerian when all he does on social media is post pictures of him in expensive, exotic places with, like, 20 different models surrounding him. I feel like people like him gain a large audience and have a lot of influence over people without actually contributing a lot to better society. Their lifestyles are also sought after which creates unrealistic life expectations for their fans. People think they can live like that when it’s just not realistic for most people.
Q: Do you feel you have high expectations to perform well in school and career wise? If so, how can this be a factor in your anxiety levels?
A: Since I have so much down time, I expect myself to be able to put enough work in for my online classes. Since I have to balance work and school, I often underestimate how much time certain assignments will take me. Then I get home [from work] and get overly stressed about the amount of time I really do have to spend on the assignment. Then that ends up making me rush my work and not really feel proud of what I turned in which makes me really anxious.
Q: What about career-wise?
A: I guess the career I’m going for pretty heavily depends on networking and I don’t really get chances to network myself as a musician because I can’t meet up with new people. I get into a thought-loop about my career and I just constantly worry that I’m not, like, getting enough opportunities to get myself out there.
Q: Is parental disapproval a factor in causing anxiety?
A: Most of the time my parents are more of a help than they are a stressor. I do hear my friends complaining about their parents disapproving of how they’re doing in terms of like grades and stuff.
Q: Do you drink alcohol or use drugs recreationally? If so, how has this affected your anxiety?
A: Um, I don’t drink much, but when I do I don’t really enjoy it. Alcohol is one of my main triggers for anxiety and it just does not work with me. Alcohol makes me, like, 10x more aware of what I’m doing and how others are perceiving it. When I’m drunk I usually assume a negative perception from other people and then get insecure. I do smoke weed. Only occasionally does it negatively affect me. It usually, like, calms my anxiety and, kind of opposite from alcohol, it makes me stop overthinking as much.
Q: Have you ever suffered from depression? If so, has this caused your anxiety to worsen and how?
A: I would say I have had depressive episodes, um, I’ve never experienced depression that has lasted more than like a month. It comes and goes, but it’s a huge factor in my anxiety. They tend to happen when I feel more isolated than usual, so, recently it’s been worse than before the virus [Covid-19].
Q: What methods of subsiding your anxiety have you found useful?
A: Talking to people and writing are mainly what distracts me and helps me get over my anxiety most of the time. Even when I don’t have people around that I can talk to, having the outlet of writing has been huge for my anxiety. When I write I try to write about what’s going on in my head and sometimes I can write things that counteract the negative thoughts and that in itself is very therapeutic.
Q: What advice do you recommend for other students your age experiencing anxiety?
A: Always try to count your blessings and find the things in your own personal life that give you joy and use that profusely when anxiety is affecting you. Find an outlet, even if it’s just one thing, that you enjoy and that makes you feel good about yourself and grounds you.
