Anxiety And School

As the 2020-2021 school year begins, a lot of uncertainty is swirling around everyone’s heads and new anxieties seem to follow it. This year, some people have found themselves doing remote learning until they feel safer going back, but if you have decided to live back at your college or university there are many ways to deal with the new anxiety. The first is to sit down and breathe. Breathing is one of the most important steps to controlling anxiety and clear your head of all of the overwhelming thoughts. There are many breathing exercises, but one to start with is simply looking up breathing exercises on YouTube and following along with any video you choose. The next step is to begin planning and gathering supplies, purchasing cleaning supplies for your dorm or apartment to keep your area sanitary can help ease your mind and create a safe space. A safe space is a very important and useful tool when learning to manage anxiety. This area can offer you instant relief, make you feel safe, and is quick and easy to access. Planning what you need and having it all ready for move in a day can relieve a lot of stress and anxiety around going back to school. Plan a trip with as little interaction as possible or only see people that have been tested for COVID-19. Going to get routine testing done every week can also ease your mind. It may seem scary to go through the test but it’s a quick and harmless interaction. The last step is to surround yourself with a strong support system and use all of the resources on your campus to maintain your health. Always go to the doctors when you think you may have any symptoms, as the peace of mind will help relieve your anxiety. Anxiety about going back to school may seem like it’s overpowering but it is manageable and once you learn how to control this it will allow you to flourish at college.