Anxiety and depression affect people of all ages – children afraid to let go of a parent’s hand, high school students trying to choose a college, and adults struggling to find a way to make every activity fit in a 24-hour period, among others. We took a look at the various ways people handle stress to showcase potential solutions for those with anxiety or depression.
Higher Education, Dire Decisions
New Albany High School helps alleviate students’ college stress
Each year, hundreds of New Albany students are faced with the daunting question: “What are you doing after graduation?”
Answering this question can put pressure on seniors – and the anxiety of keeping good grades and making the right choices, among all the other worries, can build up as deadlines approach.
That’s why college counselor Jeff Stahlman came to New Albany High School 15 years ago. Stalhman’s goal is to guide college hopefuls in the right direction.
“Every day, kids are going through panic mode,” he says. “I let them know it’s going to be OK, and we start the process. It’s stressful, but it can be balanced.”
One way to calm a student is to tackle an individual issue head-on and let him or her know the problem isn’t the end of the world.
“Usually it’s not nearly as bad as the person thinks it is,” Stahlman says. “If it’s a missing document or something wrong on the college’s side, we’ll give them a call and help straighten everything out. Nine times out of 10, it’s a simple issue. We all take a small problem and blow it up in our minds because it’s so important to us.”
Senior Lokita Rajan was one of those students facing panic when applying to colleges.
Beginning the winter semester of her junior year, she met with Stahlman regularly to work on applications, essays and easing the anxiety of picking the best school.
“I would be freaking out, and I’d frantically come into his office saying, ‘I don’t like this. I don’t know what’s going on. What do I change?’A lot of my stress came from trying to make it perfect,” Rajan says.
Learning to accept that perfection wasn’t obtainable helped her focus her energy on what she could control.
“One thing I learned is, after a point, your ACT and SAT scores are what they are, and they’re not going to change,” she says. “You should focus on the things you can change – the controllables. I can control the approach I take on my essays, but I can’t control my past scores.”
Throughout the school year, Stahlman meets with 300 to 330 students from the senior class, and he meets with juniors to help them start planning beginning each winter. He keeps his Mondays completely open for students to drop in at anytime to talk about their college careers.
The efforts put toward getting things done earlier and earlier are alarming. Stahlman has seen freshmen and eighth-graders already stressing about taking advanced placement courses.
“Some classes will help, but students are pushing themselves so hard that they aren’t leaving time to be a balanced human being,” he says. “Ultimately, you’re better off taking one or two fewer AP courses and finding something cool to do outside of school. There’s too much stress in the younger grades.”
Rajan was one of the students who benefited from dropping an advanced course. Getting rid of an AP math course opened up some free time, relieved her of the added grade anxiety and helped keep her from burning out in high school.
“You feel you have to spend all your time studying, and I’m familiar with that feeling,” she says. “It opened up time for extracurriculars I enjoyed. Colleges look for this. They’re not looking for a test-taking robot that scores the best on every test. They want a human being on campus who will do something meaningful and have passion for what they’re doing.”
Petting Away the Panic
Therapy dog calms elementary school children
When students get off the bus at the New Albany Elementary School K-1 building, they’re often met with a joyful welcome from Shirra.
Shirra, a 10-year-old golden retriever/Labrador retriever crossbreed, has been with the school for eight years. She specializes in helping students with parent-child separation anxiety and becomes a friend to many shy students.
“The biggest service she provides is she’s a good friend; that’s her biggest job,” says Kelley Schubert, school counselor and Shirra’s handler. “She’s a companion for anyone who needs a break and she’s unconditional in terms of affection. She’s a real confidence booster.”
A 2011 study published by the American Psychological Association found that petting dogs can help people deal with depression and anxiety. Pet owners were found to have increased self-esteem and empowerment thanks to their kitty and canine companions. Pets also helped study participants become more extroverted and less fearful and anxious about current matters.
Some children find interaction with the dog easier than working with an adult.
“There have been times where it’s amazing to see how children respond to her (as) opposed to any grown-ups,” Schubert says. “There have been several occasions when a young child is having a hard time with emotions, almost to the point of a meltdown. (Shirra) can walk into the room and their attention goes to her and off the stress.”
Shirra is available at the school for students suffering from anxiety or panic attacks, or for anyone who just needs a moment to relax.
Studies
Trouble Brewing
A study published in the Current Pain and Headaches Journal found that caffeine has a strong antagonistic effect on the central nervous system and adenosine receptors. This impact can lead to anxiety, jitters and headaches. The study also notes that caffeine is the most widely used psychostimulant drug in the world – meaning it has the ability to affect cognitive ability and the way a person thinks.
Better Breathing, Better Being
In an article published by Harvard University, yoga was found have a profound effect on anxiety levels. One study cited found that depression scores for yoga participants improved by 50 percent and anxiety scores were bettered by 30 percent. Yoga sessions, and the controlled breathing techniques that go along with the practice, helped most subjects fall into a normal sleeping pattern and improved their overall mood and quality of life.
‘You Can’t Make Me!’
In 2011, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry published guidelines and symptoms for school-related separation anxiety in children and teenagers. Students ages 5 to 7 and 11 to 14 were found to be the most susceptible to separation anxiety and prone to school refusal. Often, anxious children fake sickness or injury to stay at home. Other symptoms include clinging behavior, nightmares, difficulty sleeping and unrealistic fear of burglars, animals and the dark. Seeking professional help can help halt the disorder before it spreads to adulthood.
Balancing Act
New Albany real estate agent combats anxiety through yoga and time management
As everyday stressors begin to pile up and deadlines flood the mind, it’s easy for a person to crumble under the weight of his or her worries.
That’s where Jill Beckett-Hill found herself before learning the ways of prescription-free anxiety relief.
“I would be driving to or from work and I would have shortness of breath and gasp for air to calm down,” she says. “I had gone to the doctor, and we ran tests to rule out anything else. The bottom line: It was just an excessive amount of anxiety.”
Between a seven-days-a-week job, caring for her family and trying to find alone time, Beckett-Hill began to waver under the pressure. She began to notice her anxiety was stressing out her two children as well.
That’s when she decided to make a few lifestyle changes – specifically, the introduction of yoga into her daily routine.
“I got pulled 101 different directions, looked at my desk and said, ‘I need a break,’” Beckett-Hill says. “An hour of yoga, coming home for dinner and coming back to work later made me much more successful. It cleared my mind and helped me get through everything. It resets my priorities.”
She also found a local running group to keep her accountable for her weekly workout routine.
Previously, she had tried medications, but found many of them diminished her energy level, she says. Exercise has been the best method of correcting her daily strain.
“I’m not opposed to medication. If it’s going to benefit me, that’s all right, but there are other avenues to look down,” Beckett-Hill says. “Exercise is such a great tool. Everything seems a little easier after.”
Creating a stress-free environment for her children has been a major concern for Beckett-Hill. She lets them know the daily schedule in advance so they don’t feel rushed.
“As a family, we make sure we exercise. It really calms the nervous system. Children look forward to it as an outlet of energy,” she says. “As they get older, their demand for attention grows. … You have to be flexible. They have timelines and they fluctuate as well. It’s like you’re always on call. I try to forecast what will happen during the day and take advantage of downtime to relax or try and get ahead.”
Despite finding tactics to combat her panic attacks, Beckett-Hill still feels anxiety creep up from time to time. Learning how to handle these situations will be a lifelong journey, she says.
“When I have high anxiety levels, my answers are very short,” she says. “I may not think about my response fully. Sometimes you say things and think about how you could have said it differently. Slowing down has been hard, but I’m learning. It’s week-by-week and some days are better than others.”
Tune Out Your Troubles
Music therapy works to alleviate depression through creativity and familiarity
When depressive thoughts enter the mind and anxiety begins to plague everyday life, playing a familiar song can calm and soothe, says Jennifer Yurkovich, music therapist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“Music gives patients something they are used to, something playful, and it makes them feel like a child again – it helps to re-educate them that they are in a safe place,” Yurkovitch says. “Music is a component of culture, especially in childhood. (That’s why) we play ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider’ and ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ many times a week.”
Using music to help cope and calm has been an effective technique in many different situations, including physical rehabilitation, end of life care, substance abuse counseling and depression.
For some patients with depression, hearing a song with uplifting lyrical content will help motivate them to make physical and mental progress.
“Simply listening to a song with a positive message and hopeful lyrics promotes a positive change in mood, sense of well-being, and helps get rid of negativity,” Yurkovich says. “(Patients) process the lyrics and see how that song relates to their own situation.”
Leading patients in composing original music is another technique therapists use. One method is to use a set of color-coded bells, all of which have different pitches. A patient can build a song using the colors and tones.
“We jot down what color bell they want to hear and we play it with them, sometimes with a piano or guitar accompanying,” says Lelia Emery, also a music therapist at Nationwide Children’s.
The original musical and lyrical content can help both patients and their therapists home in on what may be causing the negativity.
“A lot of the time, songwriting helps them release, evaluate and think about what’s causing depression,” says Alejandra Ferrer, another music therapist at Nationwide.
After a patient receives a referral from a doctor, therapists perform a thorough assessment of the patient, mapping out how well the patient can function without professional care, as well as his or her needs and goals. The therapists also communicate with the family to learn what songs and genres the patient favors.
“We use patient-preferred music as much as possible (throughout treatment),” Ferrer says. “Research shows that this is most effective.”
To go through music therapy, a person doesn’t need to be diagnosed with depression. Therapists at Nationwide Children’s have worked with parents who are nervous for family members receiving care at the hospital.
And the best part about going this route to manage stress, panic and anxiety? There are no side effects.
Stephan Reed is an editorial associate. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
