Coping with anxiety at university

Anxiety and stress are on the rise in the student population. If you're finding it hard to cope with student life and your studies, here's what you need to know about dealing at university.

A poll of almost 38,000 UK students suggests rates of stress are on the rise in universities, with high levels of anxiety, loneliness, and thoughts of self-harm. The report by the Insight Network, a team of therapists and psychiatrists, in collaboration with Dig-In, is the largest mental health survey among UK university students.

In the study, students reported high anxiety levels, with 42.8% often or always worried, almost nine in 10 (87.7%) saying they struggled with feelings of anxiety and a third (33%) suffering from loneliness often or all the time. If this feels familiar, here is how to cope with anxiety.

Understand anxiety

Anxiety is intense feelings of worry and fear that can be mild or severe. It becomes a problem when you find it hard to control, and the feelings become a constant, which then starts to affect your life and behaviours.

As a student, anything can trigger anxious feelings, including living in a new place, feeling far away from your family and the increased pressure of a new social environment.

On top of this, fears about the future and academic pressure can also add to feelings of worry and take a more significant toll on your mental health. Left untreated, your anxiety can make it hard for you to get to class, study or even cope on a day to day basis.

Seek academic and professional support

Studies show the sharpest increase in anxiety occurs during the initial transition to university. A recent study found that anxiety, depression, and stress levels rise steadily during the first semester. Then remain elevated throughout the second semester, suggesting that the first year of university is a high-risk time for the onset of anxiety.

Student life is challenging, and when anxiety takes hold, many students cope by avoiding stressors like going to class and handing in assignments. However, taking small steps to approach anxiety-ridden situations helps.

If you're struggling in a class, contact your head of the department for extra help. If you're feeling anxious about the workload or struggle to cope academically, seek help from a tutor. A good tutor can work with you on all areas of the curriculum and help you with any struggles you have around understanding and exams.

If your anxiety is spiralling and you find that you can't make it to class, seek out professional help from your GP and the student resources on campus around student mental health.

Practice self-compassion

If you do one thing to help yourself, make sure to be kinder towards yourself. Self-compassion is about giving yourself a break when things go wrong or don't go the way you want them to. Research into this area shows that more self-compassionate individuals suffer less anxiety and depression as they build more resilience to cope with stressful life events.

Self-compassion involves being supportive and kind when you fail, feel inadequate, or struggle at university. It takes practice, but regular self-compassion can help dimmish habitual self-criticism, which can trigger high levels of anxiety.

Factor in self-care

Skipping meals, drinking too much caffeine or alcohol, irregular sleep patterns, and more can make anxiety worse. Neuroscientists have found that sleep deprivation, in particular, amplifies anxiety by firing up regions in the brain associated with emotional processing. It's why learning to practice self-care is vital for good mental health.

If the term puts you off, it's worth noting that self-care is any activity that benefits your mental, emotional and physical health. It's different for each person, but it's about looking after yourself to improve how you feel about your life.

Try creating a schedule for yourself with space for social activities. The latter is important because anxiety can stop doing the very things that make you feel good. Also, make time to talk, whether to friends and family of university staff. Talking helps as it reduces stress and reduces physical and emotional distress.

For more help, advice and information, contact Students Minds.