Case Study

Coral Glass
HED 044
October 16th, 2016
Case Study- Katya
In the case study we analyzed it talked about a college freshman student named Katya.
Katya cares very much about her school work and maintains a 3.0 gpa. Although she works very
hard to keep her grades up, it is at a great cost because she experiences extreme anxiety. She
usually experiences the most anxiety before she takes a test because she thinks her studying
didnt make a difference. As Katya gets close to the end of the semester she has an important
chemistry test that will make or break if she gets to keep her scholarship. She is experiencing
severe anxiety in regards to doing well on this test. While she is studying she ends up having a
panic attack. In this case study I will share a personal experience and give recommendations on
how Katya, or anyone in her position, could handle or prevent anxiety and panic attacks in this
specific situation and future situations.
Like many college students Katya feels extreme amounts of pressure surrounding her
grades and her success in college. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of
America, Forty million U.S. adults suffer from an anxiety disorder, and 75 percent of them
experience their first episode of anxiety by age 22. This is a shocking amount of people who
suffer from anxiety in the US. Similar to Katya, I suffer from anxiety not only when it comes to
school but also related to other aspects of my life. I have not seeked professional help because I
have mostly used natural remedies to help ease my anxiety, especially when I have anxiety
attacks. Personally I think that everyone is different in the fact that some people can handle
dealing with it in some ways and others need professional help. Katya may be able to help her
situation with some natural remedies which I would recommend that she tries first before seeking

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professional help. To help Katya do well on her exam and alleviate the anxiety surrounding this
test I have a few ways to help her.
To help Katya be able to overcome her anxiety surrounding this test and get through her
next two days of studying I would first suggest she sets up a schedule to plan out how and what
she will study for the next two days. According to the Encyclopedia of Education in an article
titled, Personal and Psychological Problems of College Students, Difficulties with anxiety are
often present as inefficiencies in coping with time and stress management, basic study
techniques, goal setting, etc. If Katya breaks the chapters of material she needs to cover into
smaller increments and sets smaller goals to reach it will not seem as overwhelming. That way
she will feel more accomplished and at ease when she finishes one section, take a break, and then
come back for the next section to study. Personally I have tried this and it does help when
studying for a big exam.
Once Katya was already experiencing a panic attack there are several ways she could
help the panic attack to be over with sooner or to recover from it. Whenever I experience a panic
attack, I try my best to take as deep of breaths as possible, sit or stand straight up, drink small
sips of water, and go outside to get fresh air. These are some things that I have always done to
help when I am in that situation. According to Steve Bresserts article Tips to Cope with a Panic
Attack, simple breathing and relaxation techniques can help to get you to feel under control. He
suggests that one should first take a deep breath, hold it in while you count to five, and then
breath out. Bressert also advises one to simply close their eyes and focus on isolating different
muscles in the body starting with the toes. I think these are good techniques to help you get
through a panic attack.

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Finally to help Katya get through the day of the exam I would suggest that she wakes up
early to eat a healthy breakfast, make sure she gives herself plenty of time to get to class, come
over prepared, and remember the breathing techniques to help her through the exam. For many
college students we can tend to cram too much information into our heads before an exam when
in reality we know more than we think. I like to always take a few deep breaths before I open the
exam book.
Anxiety and panic attacks can be scary but something that can happen often when in
college. It is important to find what works best for us and use those techniques when we need
them. When it comes to helping anxiety long term, I would suggest Katya always uses a planner
for all her school dates and other things in her life, possibly find someone to talk to about her
anxiety, and maybe even take a yoga class or something similar to help her relieve stress.

References

Bressert, S. (2016). Tips to Cope with a Panic Attack. Retrieved October 15, 2016, from
http://psychcentral.com/lib/tips-to-cope-with-a-panic-attack/2/

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College Students: Facts. (2016). Retrieved October 15, 2016, from https://www.adaa.org/
Gilchrist, L. Z. (2002). Personal and Psychological Problems of College Students. In J. W.
Guthrie (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed., Vol. 5, pp. 1871-1874). New York:
Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?
url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezp.pasadena.edu/ps/i.do?
p=GVRL&sw=w&u=pasa19871&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE
%7CCX3403200486&asid=3f53a42cec1dbe5a1393568bc214e98b