How Do Depression and Anxiety Directly Impact Learning?

Depression

Prolonged sadness may be the most recognizable symptom of depression, but it’s not the only one. And they can all seriously impact a college student’s ability to learn.  

• Trouble sleeping can lead to oversleeping, which can lead to missed classes, which can lead to falling behind on required knowledge and assignments.

• Low energy can decrease retention of learned material and cause students to have difficulty starting assignments — which can lead to falling behind.

• Difficulty concentrating can make it hard to learn in class, leading to knowledge gaps that can compound as the semester progresses. It can also make it harder to perform well on tests and assignments.

• Low motivation can make it hard to attend class, hard to start and complete assignments, and hard to ask for help. Low motivation can lead to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness as well.

• All of these symptoms can result in a downward spiraling, self-fulfilling prophecy in which a student falls behind and loses self-esteem, making their depression worse.

• This makes all of the above symptoms worse, and the cycle repeats itself.

Anxiety

Though we tend to talk about anxiety in a broad sense, there are different types of anxiety disorders — and they all impact students in different ways.

• Students with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) may find that they spend so much time worrying that they don’t have enough time or mental energy to complete their work.

• Like students with depression, they may also experience trouble sleeping and difficulty concentrating.

• Students with social phobia may have a hard time asking questions in a classroom setting, giving class presentations, asking a teacher or peer for help, or speaking their mind during group projects.

• Students with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) may have difficulty meeting their academic obligations if their symptoms get in their way.

• Perfectionism – which is common with OCD — can result in not completing or submitting work despite being intellectually capable. Or, it may lead students to spend too much time on irrelevant details and miss the big picture. Students with GAD may also have these challenges.

• Anxiety can come in many other forms as well, and can cause problems even if you don’t have a formal diagnosis.

What should I do if my mental health is getting in the way of my academic performance?

Everyone struggles sometimes, and college can introduce new stressors. Whether you have a mental health diagnosis or are experiencing these symptoms for the first time, you are not alone. So what can you do?

Reach out!

• If you’re having trouble solving a problem on your own, asking for help is the most responsible thing you can do.

• People often experience shame when admitting they need help, which is totally human and understandable. HOWEVER... 

• In the vast majority of cases, we judge ourselves much more harshly than anyone else ever does, and...

• Even adults need support for school, work, and other aspects of life.

• Reach out to your counseling center or student mental health services center, which may be part of the larger student health services center. They can help.

• If you have a therapist from back home, whether you are still seeing them regularly or not, it may be good to schedule an appointment to talk to them about your mental health in college.

• Reach out to your school’s accessibility/disability services office. Mental health challenges can be considered disabilities in some circumstances, and you may be eligible for accommodations.

• If academics are stressing you out, seek out your school’s free tutoring services. Try searching your school’s website for terms like “peer tutoring,” “tutoring center,” “academic resource center,” “educational resource center,” or “learning resource center.”

• If you’re shy about doing so, your academic advisor, staff in the accessibility office, or providers at the counseling center may be able to help.

• If all of the above seem too hard, ask a family member, peer, favorite professor, advisor, or other trusted adult for help.

• If you are struggling to keep up in class, your professors will likely be sympathetic if you’re upfront about what’s going on. They may have their own mental health challenges, and they have likely had many students with challenges like yours over the years. They may be willing to work with you on things like extensions or extra credit. 

If you are in a mental health crisis, please do not wait for an appointment. Please call 911 or 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline), or visit 988lifeline.org.