The ASU Counseling Services, located on every campus, is equipped to deal with any problems students are dealing with. Student have access to their services in-person from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every business day and by phone after hours. (Photo by Tynin Fries)September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a time dedicated to spreading awareness of diseases like depression and helpful coping methods. For students, these methods can help maintain a person’s mental health, during a time in their lives that is notoriously stressful.
As classes reach their full workloads, students may begin to feel like they are overwhelmed with the amount of tests, quizzes, readings, discussion board posts and homework they have to do. Add a job on top of that, and students can feel like they are drowning in stress.
Business communications sophomore Peyton Winder said as her classes have picked up, she has become more stressed over upcoming tests.
“I just try and study as much as I can,” Winder said. “I don’t really have a certain way to deal with all the stress, but I try to just prepare myself the best that I can and do my best in school.”
Experts say students need to maintain a balance in their school and social lives, even as courses become more demanding and require more of a time commitment.
“It’s very important to remember to take care of yourself,” said Nikki Kontz, the board president of Arizona Suicide Prevention Coalition. “Self-care is one of the most important things, and if you begin to do it early in the semester, you will benefit from it later.”
Kontz said that taking some quiet or personal time can be crucial for a person’s mental health, and suggested students exercise, try calming activities like yoga, read a book that is not school-related or just take some time to themselves to relieve stress and maintain balance in their lives.
“For students, especially freshman, it is important to have someone set up that you can talk to when you’re stressed,” Kontz said. “It can be a parent or friend, but there are also free hotlines that students can call to talk anonymously.”
ASU also has campus-specific resources that students can use for mental and emotional health, ranging from stress management to crisis prevention, many of which can be reached anytime through free hotlines that students can use.
One of the coalition’s missions is to remove suicide's stigma by educating the community about suicide prevention. Kontz said there is a lot of community focus about contacting mental health professionals, but the organization also targets friends and loved ones to educate them about how they can help someone in need.
Along with stress management, students also sometimes need to change their mindset when it comes to classwork, said Kelly Hurley, a clinical psychology director at Phoenix Interfaith Counseling.
Hurley said many students come to college expecting perfection, perfect grades, a perfect job and a perfect social life. While students should strive to do their best, students also need to learn that sometimes things will not go perfectly.
“You should always do the best that you can, but sometimes you might get a B instead of the A that you wanted, and it does even more harm to beat yourself up about it,” Hurley said.
Another toxic trap that students can fall into is comparing themselves to their friends or classmates, Hurley said.
“It may seem like everything is going perfect for them, but you don’t know what they're thinking,” Hurley said. “Catch yourself in your thinking when you begin to compete with other students. The only one you are really competing against is yourself, and you should be nice to yourself.”
If you or someone you know is looking for help dealing with stress or suicidal thoughts or actions, the ASU-dedicated hotline is 480-921-1006. This number is available 24/7. Counseling services can also be reached by appointment.
Reach the reporter at cvanek@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @CorinaVanek
