Post-Semester Depression and Anxiety: Confusion After Classes
As someone who graduated college last month, there are already things I miss about that chapter of my life, like professors, friends, and the campus. However, I certainly will not miss the depression and anxiety that came after the semester ended.
Without fail, the first few weeks after every semester, I would fall into deeper depression and worse anxiety than when I was in school. I did not recognize myself and why I felt that way. I should have been happy that school was over and I could finally relax. It was the total opposite. I would stay in bed all day because I had no motivation to do anything, and I invented problems that forced me to worry for hours on end.
Finally, I asked someone why I felt this way. Their answer: my mind and body missed the stress. Over the 16 weeks of the semester, I would work, volunteer at a lab, take a full courseload of classes, and maintain social relationships. What did I have to do now that I was on a month or three-month long break? Maybe working my summer job. Maybe volunteering a few hours for the lab. I had become used to working on schoolwork 24/7 and the massive amounts of stress I had to maintain good grades, which resulted in lots of anxiety. My brain could not adjust to this routine and anxiety abruptly ending because it thrived, to an extent, on all the stimulation from the semester. I felt that I did not have a purpose after school was on break because that was my priority for over three months.
Post-semester depression and anxiety is real. Dr. John G. Cottone, a psychologist in New York, explains that students suffer after the semester ends because they do not know what will happen next. During the semester, students know that they have assignments due on certain dates, and they know what they have to work on every day. Once this structure is taken away, students have to invent their own plans, goals, and schedules. Prior to their breaks, there is a certain degree of students’ lives that are out of their control, like their class times and assignment due dates. Now that students are out of school, they are responsible for building their schedules and routines, which can be quite jarring to their system. Students are also lost without their extracurriculars and friends around them. Without everything that kept them busy at school, students are left with more free time that can be filled with anxious thoughts.
Luckily, the post-semester blues do not last forever, according to Dr. Cottone. From his experience working with college students, he has noticed that after 3-4 weeks on break students begin to figure out a schedule that works for them. Dr. Cottone recommends trying to create a routine as soon as the semester ends to decrease the transition period between school and the summer/winter break schedule. Picking up a hobby, job, or contacting friends from school to occupy some of the free time may be beneficial.
While it is tough to live through post-semester depression and anxiety, it is relieving to know that other students go through this, too. There should be more awareness of this common experience so that students can support each other. College students deal with enough stress during the semester that they should be able to enjoy their breaks.
Staff Blogger: Sydney Elliott
Sydney Elliott is a Community Educator at MHA. She began at MHA as an intern while attending the University of Delaware, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology with minors in Neuroscience and English. She enjoys interacting with people to work through their struggles and find the best resources for them. In her free time, Sydney enjoys reading, watching reality TV, and traveling.