College can be a lot to deal with at times and can have a serious impact on students’ mental health, but they don’t have to navigate that stress alone.

Oregon State University’s Counseling and Psychological Services provides counseling for students along with many different resources to help them deal with the stresses of college life, 

Tessie Webster-Henry, the mental health promotion and suicide prevention specialist with CAPS at OSU, explained in an email what some of the most common causes for stress among college students have been.

“Many students also have financial pressure and need to juggle time to make money with time for college,” Webster-Henry said. “Time management can also present challenges. Mental health challenges like depression and anxiety can make all of this more difficult.”

Common causes of stress for new students include transitioning into this new stage of life and navigating a new environment, according to Webster-Henry.

“Students navigate a variety of stressors. For new students that might be getting used to the rigor (of) college, loneliness, finding their people and navigating new freedom and responsibility,” she said.

While it’s common for students to be especially stressed during midterms and finals, the time of year students tend to be most stressed depends on where the student is in their time at OSU, according to Webster-Henry.

“Fall can be stressful for new, incoming students (and) spring can be stressful for students that are graduating,” she said.

CAPS aims to help students navigate stress in a variety of ways, such as with both individual and group counseling and the Single-Session Clinic, where students can meet with a counselor. 

An additional way CAPS tries to help students with stress management is by providing them with multiple resources. One of these resources is the CAPS student ambassadors’ Dam Good Self Care workshop, which is available by request for groups.

“The workshop provides tangible ways for students to think about and manage stress,” Webster-Henry said.

There are on-call counselors available for urgent appointments. This option is available from from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday during the academic year and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday during breaks and summer term. 

Webster-Henry said another way to improve mental health is by helping others and CAPS has their Mental Health Initiative, a team of students who meet once a week to promote mental well-being within the OSU community, for which students can volunteer.

For more information, visit CAPS’ website at counseling.oregonstate.edu.

Students who are in distress can also call CAPS at 541-737-2131 for 24/7 support.