Edwards 1

Adam Edwards

Tim Waggoner

English 1201

25 July 2020

Literature Review

Everyone has dealt with anxiety and stress in one way or another. Whether it’s the big

test coming up, or the interview for the job you’ve always wanted, it is a common thing. While

most have small episodes of anxiety, there are other students who have actual anxiety disorders,

which can lead to physical and mental pain if not taken care of. These disorders can cause

students to feel sick to their stomach, have panic attacks, have loss of sleep, or even have mental

breakdowns. According to Medical News Today, around 40 million people are affected by some

sort of anxiety disorder in the United States alone.  This makes it the most common medical

disorder in the country, so why is it not talked about more? If not managed properly, anxiety can

destroy people's lives. In order to bring light to this issue, it is important to ask the question, how

does anxiety and stress affect students' lives and what are the best methods to cope with them?

Even though anxiety was only diagnosed around the 19th century, anxiety can be traced

back to the Greco-Roman Period. In the Hippocratic Corpus, a collection of medical texts

attributed to Hippocrates, talks about a man named Nicanor who was afraid of a lady who played

a flute at a symposium. If he heard her during the day, he was fine, but if he heard her at night,

he would be overwhelmed by terror (Crocq). These collections of documents are some of the

earliest known cases of what we would now know as anxiety. The Stoics and the Epicureans also

had their teaching to try and help with anxiety. While different schools of thought, they had

similar ideas to rid oneself of anxiety by freeing your mind and getting rid of all worries, living
 Edwards 2

only in the present. The word Anxiety derives from the latin verb, ango, meaning to constrict (

Crocq).

Through all of the sources, there are some very similar key points in all of them. The

major one being that stress and anxiety are not easily defined. They are complex emotions that

can be triggered from many different things (Mustafa). In order to understand stress and anxiety,

we have to understand the triggers of each. It is also important to note that there is a difference

between anxiety and anxiety disorders. While anxiety is a normal response that our body has to

keep us out of dangerous situations, anxiety disorders are when the actual anxiety lasts much

longer than the actual trigger of the anxiety (Browne). In the article, “What is Anxiety?” by

Tanja Jovanic, shares the same idea. Anxiety disorders are characterized by a general feature of

excessive fear and/or anxiety and can have negative behavioral and emotional consequences

(Jovanic). It is also commonly agreed upon that around 30% of students ages 14-24 have

overwhelming feelings of anxiety often (American Institute of Stress).

While most facts are commonly shared by all sources, there are also some differences

between them. Most sources say that you don’t have to seek medical assistance for these

disorders, but others disagree. The American Institute of Stress says you should always seek

professional help. “College students facing anxiety may find that the resources offered by mental

health clinics outside their campus community provide the most effective treatment for their

conditions. The resources include consulting with mental health practitioners operating in public

health facilities and in private offices” (American Institute of Stress).

Finally, the biggest misconception about anxiety and stress is that it is something that is

not a big deal. People who don’t have severe anxiety or anxiety disorders often think it is

something that can be dealt with quickly. The reality is that it is a mental illness that may take
 Edwards 3

professional help depending on the severity. People oftentimes don’t try to understand those

suffering and brush off their friends and peers struggling. If people struggling don’t seek help or

find support, this illness can sometimes lead to suicide. People must start trying to understand

their friends and family who deal with anxiety and learn to be supportive of them in their

struggles.

There are many different causes for stress and anxiety, the most common being 

genetics, environment factors, medical conditions, behavioral choices, and demographics

(Jovanic). While sometimes a person having anxiety isn’t in their control, other times it is

decided by our experiences or choices. It is important that we make the conscious decision to

choose what is best for our mental health every day. Some good coping methods for dealing with

anxiety are seeking a therapist, using mental health services at universities, finding a support

group, learning relaxation techniques, or taking a prescription. We have to make the decision

every day to do what is best for ourselves to help better our mental health. 
 Edwards 4

Work Cited

“Anxiety in College Students: Causes, Statistics & How Universities Can Help.” 

The American Institute of Stress, 21 Oct. 2019, www.stress.org/anxiety-in-

college-students-causes-statistics-how-universities-can-help.

Browne, Dillion. Anxiety: Overview, Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments. 

11 Jan.   2020, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323454.

Crocq, Marc-Antoine. “A History of Anxiety: from Hippocrates to DSM.” 

Dialogues in  Clinical Neuroscience, Les Laboratoires Servier,

 Sept. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4610616/.

Jovanovic, Tanja. Anxiety " What Is Anxiety? Signs, Causes, Symptoms. 12 Nov. 2019 

 www.anxiety.org/what-is-anxiety.

Mustafa,‌‌Jawwad,‌‌et‌‌al.‌‌"'Everything‌‌takes‌‌too‌‌long‌‌and‌‌nobody‌‌is‌‌listening':‌‌

Developing‌‌theory‌‌to‌‌understand‌‌the‌‌impact‌‌of‌‌advice‌‌on‌s‌ tress‌‌and‌‌the‌‌ability‌‌to‌‌cope."‌

‌PLoS‌‌ONE‌,‌‌vol.‌‌15,‌‌no.‌‌4,‌‌2020,‌‌p.‌‌e0231014.‌‌Gale‌‌In‌‌Context:‌‌Opposing‌‌Viewpoints‌,‌

‌https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A621763300/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid‌=OVIC&xid=92638cbc.‌A
‌ ccessed‌‌31‌J‌ uly‌‌2020.‌‌