Early adulthood is a strange time. We have a lot of energy and ideas, but seldom have the resources to put this energy and ideas into fruition. At the same time that we are developing academically in early adulthood, we are experiencing a range of physical and mental changes. This is one of the most overwhelming stages of “growing up”, as we must somehow excel in our studies, while maintaining our mental health through the inevitable hardships of life. Another inevitable part of early adulthood is being broke. You are in professional limbo, a couple restaurant jobs on your resumé which have helped to pay for your highly overpriced education, yet you still do not have enough academic credentials to work in your field. This combination of stress and idealism that often plagues college students is nothing to write off, for it is partially the reason that we are the demographic with the one of the highest rates of depression and anxiety.
Being a full-time student in college often forces us to put emotional events in our lives on the back burner, so that our grades and expectations are not in jeopardy. This is unhealthy and promotes unhealthy coping strategies, most notable among college students, substance abuse. Many college campuses offer therapy, but seeking therapy on a college campus may increase feelings of anxiety among certain people. Anxiety also tends to convince you that you do not have time to do anything, likely because so much time is spent obsessing over what's to be done. When depression enters the mix, it’s even more insidious as an individual suffering will go between times of depression, when they are likely to perform poorly academically, and anxiety, when they beat themselves up because of all the work that has built up. This does not leave time for therapy and often leads to increased negative self-talk.
If you do not have the time and finances to seek therapy, as most college students do not, I encourage you to adopt other modes of self-therapy. I discussed focused meditation in my last article, but now want to discuss another, more associative form of meditation; journaling. I do not necessarily mean the classic “Dear Diary…” journaling, where you write a page every day about what you did and how it made you feel, although this is one effective way to journal. Journaling can take any form that you find helpful, another way that it is similar to therapy.
One particular method of journaling that I have found to be therapeutic is expressing my emotions through writing as if I were speaking to a person who I feel I have not had closure with. As I pointed out in the preceding paragraphs, we are often forced to put our emotions on the back burner, which can lead to unresolved emotions toward ourselves and others. It can feel like weights being lifted off your back when you simply write what you would like to say to that person, rather than holding it in. This is especially good when what you want to say may not be the most positive or kind.
If you're not the writing type, illustrative journaling is a therapeutic method and can help to resolve feelings, just as effectively as writing. In fact, most artists throughout time have been inspired to create some of their best works after emotional hardship, most famously Picasso's "Guernica ,"created after the Spanish Civil War.
I strongly encourage you to journal, it is an affordable therapy and a healthy emotional outlet. Hopefully one day, our healthcare system will make it affordable to be mentally healthy, but until then, we must find ways to keep ourselves healthy in these stressful times. Being in the throws of early adulthood can feel overwhelming and make a stable future seem unattainable, but like all things, these stressful times will pass and we will reach times of solace, again. Life is a roller coaster, so learn how to help yourself before it throws you for a loop.
Also, here is a link from Psychology Today that highlights some of the newest mental health statistics among college students. These are scary but may be comforting to those who feel alone in their struggle. You're not.
