Jennifer Gardner

Staff Writer

   A student walks into class blurry eyed from lack of sleep, exhaustion heavy in every thought. Maybe they were late for school and skipped breakfast because they were cramming for exams and quizzes while juggling various homework assignments on the side. Or maybe they had to cover for someone at their part-time job where they work to save up enough money to get their first car or to stash away for college. Either way, they’re late and the teacher makes them go to the tardy station.

When they pick up their slip they go back to their class, which may or may not be having a quiz that they didn’t have time to study for during the hectic week. They stop at the door take a deep breath and walk in despite the rising fear inside of them. That’s what most people would do in this situation, but not individuals with an unhealthy anxiety level.  

“We have all of this anxious kind of thoughts but typically we just go do it. You’ll just open the door and you’ll just live with it and go through it. Somebody with [an] anxiety disorder would not be able to open the door. They would be so overwhelmed with that prospect of having those things happen that they couldn’t function. They couldn’t open the door and just take their seat,” councilor Shanna Hewgley said.

An unhealthy anxiety level can be caused by many many things, some of which might not even be evident to the individual at the time. Hewgley shared times when students having panic attacks would answer no when asked if they thought anything had caused their attack.

“You could probably tease it apart and start digging and find things that are unresolved conflicts or issues of concern that are starting to manifest and the pieces just aren’t being aligned or put in place to where those connections can be made,” Hewgley said.

Whether it be midterms, Holidays, or school work in general, stress can cause a severe negative impact on a student’s mind, body, and spirit, resulting in things such as nervousness, exhaustion and even states of depression.

One of the major impacts of stress can take on the form of anxiety; anxiety that can hinder an individual’s ability to function. There are however many ways to combat and handle anxiety attacks and help to decompress from all the ongoings of school and life. Anxiety can take many forms in everyday life, it’s your body’s natural response to stress.

Let’s suppose that with our tardy student they start getting dizzy as their thoughts run wild in their head. They think back to all the things they’ve been doing and start second guessing everything they’ve done. Have I been paying attention this past week? Have I been doing a good enough job on my school work?  

Regards to stress, what most students may not understand is that there are typically three types. According to Learnpsychology.com, these three types are Acute, Episodic, and Chronic stress with Chronic being the most hindering to a person’s potential at living their life while Acute is the most common and will usually pass with time. Students are the at the most risk for Chronic stress because of the high-pressure environment that is high school. From back-ups to failed tests to find ways to navigate new social dynamics.

Counselors are visiting classrooms and presenting information on reducing anxiety to students.

“Anxiety is just part of the human condition so its always been around just like all the other emotions that we experience as humans and anxiety has a pro-social component to where it usually encourages us to study and do things that we probably don’t wanna do but that is good for us but the level of anxiety where we’re seeing students it’s just really can be crippling to them,” counselor Shanna Hewgley said.  

Anxiety can be mild or severe including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder(OCD), Phobias, Panic attacks, Post-traumatic stress(PTSD), and more. These types of anxieties and disorders can have a detrimental impact on the individuals struggling and they should seek help.

“We offer a wide variety of services here at [school] one of them being we call responsive services. So that would be any time a student comes in with any mental health or emotional need that prevents them from being able to pay attention or concentrate in their classes,” Hewgley said.

Counselors will visit with the student and see if it’s something they can help to manage in a session in the counseling office if it’s minor the goal is to get the student back to their class and keep them from falling behind in schoolwork. Hewgley shared if the student is needing deep treatment or critical, parents and family support will be involved and the counselors will connect the family with the appropriate resources.

“Mental illness in terms of depression, anxiety disorder, [and] any of those more severe mental health issues we would first ascertain that they are getting treatment and that they’re receiving it,” Hewgley said.

Some students may just need time to decompress or talk.

“Whatever it is that they would need we offer for them within the school involvement to the best that we can without compromising their education,” Hewgley said.

The counselors encourage students to find outlets for their stress including exercise, meditation, and talking over their stress with friends and loved ones. Hewgley said the counselors are aware some students carry a heavy load of challenging courses and are involved in several activities on and off campus.

“The pressure of their classes and [managing] their life their work-life balance. It may become difficult to prioritize and to spend time as much time as you needed to each course for each project for each club for each performance and I think people just spread themselves so thin that they get overwhelmed,” Hewgley said.

Its encouraged for students to reach out and make an appointment if they are feeling overwhelmed and take the upcoming holiday break to decompress and relax. School work, grades, work, family, and friends are important but don’t hurt yourself by stretching yourself to a breaking point.