Roselyn Delgadillo

Professor Moore

HED 44

20 May 2018

What Katya Can Do to Help with Her Anxiety

Katya is a freshman in college. She has a 3.0 GPA. She works very hard, and dedicates a

lot of effort to studying. However she suffers from severe test anxiety because she believes that

all her dedication won’t make a difference.The end of the semester is approaching, and she needs

to do well on her chemistry exam or she will lose her scholarship. The amount of pressure has

made her anxiety levels really high, and in the afternoon she has a panic attack while she was

studying.

I can relate to Katya because i am a college student that suffers from anxiety, and I know

how tough it can be when you have an exam, and you are really stressed out about it. I know

what it’s like to have a panic attack because you feel like you’re going to fail and all your efforts

will be for nothing. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association Of America “41.6

percent stated anxiety as the top presenting concern among college students, and 85 percent of

college students reported that they had felt overwhelmed by everything they had to do within the

past year.
 I remember I had a test for Statistics coming up, and i knew i couldn’t afford to fail this

test, so I studied a lot. I dedicated a lot of time and effort to study for this test. That entire week I

was a stress ball, and it got so bad that I broke down and had a panic attack. According to the

Association of Health Research and Welfare “higher education is a stressful period in students'

life which they need to cope with due to various reasons as living away from the families, a

heavy syllabus, and inefficiency in higher education programs.” This is a very common issue

among college students, and i feel like more people need to be well aware of ways that help them

deal with their anxiety.

Furthermore I would strongly suggest to Katya, or any other student who is struggling

with anxiety to seek a therapist. I know it may seem intimidating, and scary to talk to a complete

stranger about your issues. I believed that too at first I was completely against seeing a therapist,

but my friend who also struggled with anxiety strongly suggested I should see one several times.

She finally convinced me to go to a therapist, and I went. It was one of the best decisions of my

life. The therapist listened to me, and it was nice to talk to someone about my issues. She helped

me to learn how to deal with my anxiety. I wasn’t aware that our school had a psychologist, and

I’m sure other students aren’t aware of their school resources. We need help people be aware that

these resources exist , and if a person is too intimidated to see a therapist i would suggest they at

least talk to someone they trust.

Additionally another option for reducing anxiety would be marijuana. Research shows

that marijuana can really help control and keep anxiety levels low. The American Academy of

Pediatrics believes that “the use of medical cannabinoids, the natural compounds that makeup the

genetics of medical marijuana, can be a therapy for a number of medical conditions, anxiety

disorder being one of them”. Some medical marijuana strains have higher levels of Cannabidiol
(CBD) hemp oil which has proven to help treat anxiety disorders. This works by helping brain

cells transfer more serotonin signals, which reduces anxiety and boosts mood.

Also meditation is a great way of lowering anxiety levels. Meditation helps people to release

stress, and relax. Anxiety causes people to overthink, and always worry. Mediation helps by

keeping the mind at ease. A study by the Psychological Bulletin shows “the overall conclusion

was that practicing mindfulness or meditation produces beneficial results, with a substantial

improvement in areas like negative personality traits, anxiety, and stress”. This proves that

mediation is a good way to lower stress and anxiety.

Moreover these are all great options to help lower anxiety and stress. However Katya also

needs to change her mind set. She has a very fixed, and negative mindset. She believes that all

her efforts in studying won’t make a difference. She needs to be more positive and have a growth

mindset. Believing that she is going to fail doesn’t help her in any way. She needs to be more

positive, and believe that she has dedicated a lot of her effort to studying, so she will succeed.

She needs to not let herself become discouraged by failure.

In conclusion, there are alot of things Katya can do to help her with her anxiety. The one

I would highly recommend to her and everyone is to seek a therapist. Speaking through personal

experience it really does help, and it is nice to talk about your issues with someone that provides

positive feedback. The other options I provided can really help her control her anxiety too.

Lastly, the other thing she needs to change is her mindset believing she is going to fail, and that

all her efforts would be for nothing is not going to help her in any way. She needs to develop a

growth mindset, and believe that she has dedicated a lot of her time and effort to studying, so she

will succeed.
 Work Cited Page

Mahadeorao, Vijay Bjujade. “Depression, Anxiety, Academic Stress Among College Students: A

Brief Overview.” Indian Journal of Health & Wellbeing. 2017, Vol. 8 Issue 7, p748-751.

EBSCOhost. Web. 20. May. 2018

Azad, Raza, Najam Hassan, Maryam Khursid, Ibrahim Ansari. “The Relationship Between

Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Self Harm Among College Students: A Cross-Sectional

Survey.” Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal. Feb. 2018, Vol. 68 Issue 1, p137-142.

EBSCOhost. Web. 20. May. 2018

Ptasevich, Saloman. “Anxiety and Marijuana: CBD, THC, CBD-A All You Need To Know

About Weeds Effects on Mental Health.” Anxiety Social Net.

http://www.anxietysocialnet.com/anxiety-and-medical-marijuana. Web. 20. May. 2018

Davis, M. Daphne, Hayes, A. Jeffrey. “What Are The Benefits to Mindfulness.” The American

Psychological Association. July. 2010. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/07-08/ce-corner.aspx.

Web. 20. May. 2018