According to American addiction centers.org, 88 percent of college students say their life is stressful.

One in three college students experience significant stress and anxiety according to mayoclinichealthsystem.org.

Young people are struggling because they have increased pressure from society to be successful while not having the skills necessary for employment or independent living.

One writer for the New York Times said that young people are faced with “America’s culture of hyper achievement”.

The stress can increase as students face deficits with life skills and other problems such as relationships, being away from their parents for the first time and a heavy class schedule.

Nicholls school counselor, Krystyn Dupree, said “I do think ultimately it does come down to struggles with balance.”

She said that students need to have a good balance of studying, a social life and self care, part of which she said is getting proper sleep.

Dupree said that she recommends that students who are feeling a lot of stress should take a moment to figure out what is causing their stress.

“Sometimes it’s just that we’re too busy going, going, going,” said Dupree. “We’re working or we’re in school and we’re not taking a moment to just be.”

An additional factor for stress is the rising cost of education. Other factors include breakups, sexual assault, sexual identity issues, stressful life events, drug or alcohol abuse or family history of depression.

Students at a higher risk of anxiety and depression are racial minorities, females, low income, LGBTQ+ and students who are caregivers of children or other adults.

Signs of anxiety and depression include feeling fatigue, loss of interest in activities such as hobbies or relationships, emotional outbursts like being sad or angry or thoughts of suicide or self harm.

Here are some tips for reducing stress from bestcolleges.com:

1. Get enough sleep. Getting sufficient and good quality sleep can help reduce stress and improve your mood. It also helps reduce the risk of getting sick and improve memory.

2. Eat nutritious food. Try to eat healthy food and avoid fast food.

3. Get some exercise. Exercise helps improve your cognitive abilities and releases endorphins. Exercise can also help you fall asleep.

4. Don’t rely on stimulants. Using stimulants for late night studying or assignments will cause you to crash later. Stimulants increase the physical effects of stress by raising cortisol levels.

5. Set proper boundaries. If you constantly have an overbooked schedule, it can create a lot of stress. Try to pick a class schedule that allows plenty of time for studying and relaxing. You may be able to get an extension on an assignment if you explain your situation to your professors.

6. Don’t procrastinate. Managing your time wisely can help keep you from having to stay up all night trying to catch up on assignments.

While no one can completely avoid stress, there are healthy ways to manage it. Finding healthy ways to handle stress can help keep it from overwhelming you.