In Transition: One College Student’s Story

Everyone has hard times dealing with the stressors of everyday life, especially during your teenage years, but when is it time to reach out for help? For myself it was just a couple of weeks ago. Once my anxiety began interfering with my school, work, and relationships I decided I’ve reached my limit. My anxiety began during high school and I learned to negatively cope with it by experimenting with alcohol. At the time I didn’t realize that anytime I would drink, my anxiety would actually become worse. On top of that, I moved away to school for my freshman year of college. Although I had many friends at my new school, I still was extremely anxious most of the time and I would experience panic attacks driving back to school after a weekend at home. On top of excessive partying, lack of sleep, constant stress, and the distance I felt from my friends and family, I realized my mental state was only decreasing.

After transferring to a school in the Twin Cities much closer to my friends and family, my anxiety wasn’t as severe. I began working out five days a week and stopped partying every weekend. Even after I decided to create a healthier lifestyle for myself, I realized my mind began feeling stable, but my anxieties were still there. I also have experienced sleep problems for a couple years so the combination of lack of sleep and anxiety was killing me. A couple of weeks ago I made an appointment with my doctor. She explained to me that my serotonin levels (a chemical in your brain to help you maintain a “happy feeling”) have become depleted. Although I’m very skeptical when it comes to medications, I decided to try this anti-anxiety medication she prescribed me. She warned me it would take up to two weeks to kick in, so I needed to be patient. I began feeling an increase in happiness only two days after beginning this medication, and today I’ve been officially been on it for two weeks and I’ve noticed a huge decrease in my everyday feelings of anxiety. My advice is control your mind, and stop stressing. If your anxiety begins to interfere with your everyday life, talk to somebody it can truly make a world of a difference.