Students stress over finals, seek counseling

As the horrors of finals approach, students increasingly start to buckle down to their studies, drink coffee and freak out.

"Of the new people we're seeing, 50 or 60 percent" are seeking counseling partly due to exam-related stress, said Brad Wolgast, a staff psychologist at Counseling and Psychological Services. He added that in the period before and during finals, 40 percent of students seeing counselors say they are suffering from test anxiety.

Most people agree that Penn is a competitive environment, and during finals, more students begin to feel the weight of their families' and their own expectations.

"Stress varies with the percentage of the grade," Engineering junior Ana Crespo said. For finals "it gets worse, you're tired from the semester... they're worth more of your grade."

Students often turn to friends or family for stress relief. For some, though, anxiety becomes so bad that they look for professional help.

CAPS typically begins to see cases of finals-related stress as early as the week before Thanksgiving, and cases continue until finals are done. According to staff, though, exam stress is rarely the sole reason a student comes to CAPS.

"A substantial portion of people we're seeing have problems exacerbated by exam-related stress," CAPS counselor and Psychology intern Dan Strunk said.

Experts point to a variety of reasons for students to feel increased stress.

"Students applying for grad or professional schools... don't want to compromise grades," CAPS counselor and predoctoral intern and Tayyab Rashid said. "Relationships can be a problem, [many students] can't manage" them.

The effects of too much stress run the whole gamut but can include mood and anxiety problems, hypertension and panic attacks.

"I actually got sick I was so stressed," Crespo said. "I got anemic, I didn't even notice... until the doctor said."

The range of reasons for stress means there is no one magic solution, but CAPS staff have noted some common student mistakes that worsen the situation.

"The biggest issue is time management," Rashid said. "They need to have planned ahead... [people] are reluctant to accept that we're not very good at these strategies."

To compensate for leaving everything to the last minute, some students then become such workaholics that they mistreat themselves.

"It's possible to study for hours on end without taking care of yourself," Wolgast said. "You should maintain regularity in sleeping, in eating, in [social] contact."

Many students are already following that advice, treating stress and its management as normal parts of college life.

"I go the gym, I talk with friends, griping about exams," College freshman Julia Cunningham said, adding that study breaks are often enjoyable. "You can't just sequester yourself with your books, that's not healthy either."

Taylor Terkel, president of Active Minds -- a student group that tries to inform students about mental health issues -- said students often seem to think high stress and hard work go hand in hand.

"People come to Penn... believing being too stressed out is a good thing," the College senior said. "A lot of stress can be healthy, but you need to be very aware of the level of it."

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