Students are prone to recurring bouts of anxiety disorders. They are exposed to the anxiety bug, whether they are in the freshmen year or they are up their neck with undone projects for the upcoming test. Anxiety is just a state of emotional distress plagued by unwarranted fear and apprehensions. Thereby students have high chances of sinking into a mental quagmire, if their anxiety problems are not sorted out at the earliest. If we dig deeper into the abyss, we can come up with the overriding causes of anxiety in them. Understanding the reasons behind the disorder would enable us to chalk out a concrete strategy to help the student community.

Anxiety is not an external phenomenon; it is an internal stress that makes the students react to external circumstances with trepidation and consternation. A closer look at the psychology of the students give us the feeling that behind their anxiety lie fear, guilt, lack of meaning in life and lack of interpersonal relationship. A comprehensive knowledge of these psychological undertones would only help in restoring the sanity of the students with anxiety disorder.

Among students, fear can be broadly seen under two categories viz. fear of death and fear of circumstances. Examples galore of instances when a death in the campus spread the fear of death like wildfire. For instance, if a student fells off the balcony and dies, it leads to a situation that none of the students go to the balcony for fear of death befalling them. That is when anxiety strikes. Students are also driven to anxiety by circumstances like inadequate finance, an upcoming examination etc.

Guilt is another factor that makes way for anxiety to strike mayhem among students. But how does guilt enter the mind of a student? Guilt sets in when he fails to achieve certain goals and targets, that he sets for himself or other sets for him. Parents and teachers are sometimes rather too strict and at fault in enforcing certain standards for the students. In case a student fails to maintain their parameter, he is hit by a guilty conscience. And when he is guilty, anxiety disorders are not far off.

Despair (or the lack of meaning in life) contributes substantially in the rapid increase of anxiety disorders in the student community. A patriotic soldier, taken as prisoner of war, chooses death over life. He sees no meaning in a life, spent languishing in an enemy camp. Sometimes, students experience the feeling that they are “good-for-nothing”, when they are reprimanded either by their parents or teachers. They perceive that it is no good living in a system that can’t fit them in. Such hopelessness and gloom can take them away from the mainstream, leading them to anxiety disorders.

Lack of involvement and interpersonal relationship can give way to lots of negative ill feelings and false camaraderie. Human beings need an optimum amount of good-fellowship to survive in the society. But once in college, students begin to drift gradually away from their parents. And their interactions with the teachers start and end in the classroom itself. At times, rivalry inside the classroom may lead students to keep each other away at an arm’s length. Well, it is the end of the road for them. Being alone and moody, anxiety strikes students hardest here.

Clearing these psychological and behavioral roadblocks is essential for students to successfully recover from anxiety disorders.