FOR STUDENTS, NEW CHALLENGES ADDING TO STRESSES OF COLLEGE

Adults are often quick to tell college students: "Enjoy yourselves. This is
the best time of your lives.'' But for an increasing number of students,
the college experience is marred by chronic anxiety, stress and distress.

College counselors report a sharp increase in the need and demand for
mental-health services, and that can sometimes result in long waiting
lists, making the troubled students' problems even worse.

In recent years more than 80 percent of campuses have noted significant
increases in serious psychological problems, including severe stress,
depression, anxiety and panic attacks, according to an annual survey of
counseling centers by Robert P. Gallagher of the University of Pittsburgh
School of Education.

Some of this emotional distress can be attributed to financial worries in
these economically uncertain times. Looking at the dismal employment
situation, many students with college loans fret about how they will repay
the money.

Furthermore, family support systems are not what they used to be for
students whose parents are separated, divorced or remarried. Even within
colleges, there may now be less support from peers, with the increase in
non-traditional students who live on their own off campus rather than in
dormitories.

These challenges can land on top of traditional causes of student distress,
such as broken romantic relationships, bad grades, insufficient sleep,
difficulty making friends, failing to join student organizations,
homesickness or simply feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work that has
to be done.

Far too many students turn to tobacco and alcohol to assuage their
emotional crises and, in the process, make them worse. Recent studies have
shown, for example, that smoking causes, rather than alleviates, stress.

Drinking alcohol, especially binge drinking, has long been a troublesome
college pastime, even when most students are below the legal drinking age.
But what most students -- in fact, most people -- do not realize is that
alcohol is a depressant that only temporarily masks ill feelings and in the
end makes matters worse. And binge drinking is plain dangerous.

Another all-too-common but ill-conceived mechanism for coping can lead to
an eating disorder. The problem may start with stress-induced compulsive
eating, leading to weight gain or a fear of it. Desperate attempts to
control unwanted pounds may lead to risky diets or even bulimia, the
binge-and-purge syndrome that is said to afflict up to 15 percent of young
women on some campuses.

Young people with emotional problems often think they are the only ones so
afflicted and that no one understands them. But few if any such problems
are unique, and talking about them to a good listener, professional or
otherwise, can often make matters seem less serious and more manageable.

It can also lead to creative solutions for even seemingly impossible problems.

A student overwhelmed by a difficult course load may find that dropping an
especially troublesome course and taking it or an alternative in summer
school or in the next semester is far more workable.

Those plagued with monetary worries can consult financial aid offices and
explore options like scholarships, part-time or summer jobs or government
loans that do not have to be paid back until after graduation.

Instead of using food, drugs, alcohol or tobacco in a counterproductive
attempt to relieve stress, students might consider any of a number of
wholesome relaxation techniques including meditation, yoga and physical
exercise.

Finally, when emotional distress seems beyond self-help solutions, troubled
students should not hesitate to seek professional counseling on campus or off.

Jane Brody writes about health for the New York Times.