College is known as the best four years of your life. No one really prepares you for how much stress and anxiety college can cause you as well. Moving away from home, living with strangers, getting a part-time job or an internship, and balancing classes on top of that. No wonder mental health has become a huge topic of discussion among college campuses. I personally did not get diagnosed with anxiety until my junior year of college. But I think I can help to give you some useful tips and tricks on how to balance it all and be successful.
Freshman year was actually the hardest for me and had a big impact on the anxiety that I had developed being in college. As I just mentioned I came to West Chester as a Marketing major but that did not last very long for me. After my first semester here my GPA fell very low and I have been struggling ever since then to bring it up. Sophomore year I realized that my grades were still not where I wanted them to be and I was not happy with what I was studying. It was then I decided to become a Communications Studies major. My first tip is to make sure that you are studying something you are passionate about.
My next tip to manage your stress and anxiety is to keep yourself busy. I know how I just talked about how stressful college is already but it’s things like getting a job or an internship that will help take your mind off of school every now and then. When you have free time, it is also a good time to go out and do something whether it’s going out to eat, shopping or even just taking a walk to clear your mind. Find some time to incorporate your mental health.
Another thing I have found that tends to help me out is essential oils. They come in a bunch of different scents and you can find them for a decent price on Amazon. Just be sure to read up on it before you buy, it is best to go for the oils that are as natural as possible. Lavender is really good for stress and anxiety and peppermint is good for focus. I personally like to mix the two together at times to help me focus and relax at the same time. You can either put them on your wrist like perfume before class or work or you can also diffuse them in an oil diffuser.
The last tip that helps me the most of all out of anything else is CBD Oil. CBD is a natural substance that comes from the cannabis plant but DOES NOT contain any THC and WILL NOT get you high. It has been proven to help reduce anxiety and chronic pain. It is something that has personally helped me a lot dealing with my anxiety on a day to day basis. If you have not yet tried it I highly recommend you do. It comes in different forms such as oil, gummy candy, lotion, spray and a bunch of other ways.
