Dealing with anxiety during finals

PHOTO: Student their finals to-do list

By Sam Ochsner-Hembrow

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Finals week is always a stressful time, something known all too well by Davis High student Mia Udwary. Last year during the crescendo of last minute studying that comes the week before any major test, she had one of the worst panic attacks she had ever experienced. 

“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t speak… I had to ride it out, focus on my breathing, and then after it had subsided to just take steps to fix what was causing my anxiety,” Udwary said. 

High levels of anxiety over tests are not uncommon at DHS, despite the many mental health services provided by the school.

As finals week at DHS approaches, students are studying frantically, some trying in vain to make up for the classes and lectures they missed or ignored. Some use the school’s wellness center or reach out to their counselors.

“Prior to COVID,… anxiety in young people was already increasing before the pandemic hit,” psychologist Krystal Lewis says. “Anxiety symptoms in youth… significantly increased during the pandemic, and then it came back down… the prevalence rate of anxiety is still high, but it peaked during the pandemic.”

But what is anxiety? According to Dr. Lewis, anxiety is your body and mind’s reaction to an event or perceived threat, coming in the form of fear, worry, or dread. It is similar to stress, but “stress is kind of momentary… anxiety oftentimes doesn’t go away once the stressor is gone,” Lewis said.

While panic attacks may be the most noticeable symptom to others, Udwary says a lot of the disruption comes from the lower level but constant worry that school can cause. 

“It makes it harder for me to regularly do work, which feeds into the anxiety, which feeds into me not being able to do work, so it’s kind of a spiral type thing,” Udwary said.

An important aspect of managing anxiety can be using “grounding” methods to help prevent panic attacks. DHS counselor Catherine Pereira recommended tricks like breathing exercises or holding an ice cube to distract yourself from whatever’s causing the anxiety.

 Another trick commonly recommended online is to mentally list five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste to help get yourself out of your “lizard brain”.

Another student who deals with anxiety is junior Amarie Brown. “Last year, I had to run a mile for P.E., and for some reason that really really stressed me out… it freaked me out so much I ended up pretty much having constant panic attacks for a week,” Brown said. 

Their friend helped them up, and their setback just made them more determined to complete the run. “I decided ‘I am going to do this mile run and I am going to complete it,’” Brown said. With a little help from their friend, they made the mile in 12 minutes. 

“It was not a fast mile… I am ok with that, because I did it in the end. It just matters that I did it. I took as much time as I needed to acknowledge my own fears and acknowledge what I was scared of, and I managed to work through it,” they said.

Anxiety is common, but it is treatable. The school offers many services to help students manage their anxiety, from counseling to the wellness center, and there are many resources available online to help, such as Anxiety Canada and Young Minds. If you are struggling, reach out. Someone will be there to help you back up.