Identify a Student in Distress

Although everyone feels "stressed" at times, excessive stress (i.e. distress) can manifest itself in a number of ways.

Symptoms and Warning Signs

A student may be distressed if any of the following apply to him/her:

• Significant changes in eating, sleeping, grooming, spending, or other daily activities
• Cut off or minimized contact with family or friends.
• Significant changes in performance or involvement in academics, sports, extracurricular, or social activities
• Problems (missing class, not remembering, destructive behavior) resulting from drinking or drugs.
• Acting withdrawn, volatile, tearful, etc.
• Acting out of character or differently than usual
• Talking explicitly about hopelessness or suicide
• Difficulty concentrating or carrying on normal conversation
• Excessive dependence on others for company or support
• Reports feeling out of control of one's emotions, thoughts, or behaviors

Common Causes of Distress

The following are examples of common causes for a student's distress:

• Family problems or other interpersonal difficulties (conflicts, illness or death of someone important to the student, divorce, abuse)
• Problems with a romantic partner or spouse (sexual problems, communication problems, abuse)
• 
Financial difficulties (juggling work and school, providing for students, economic hardship in family/country of origin)
• 

Significant changes in circumstance (adjusting to a new place, new people, and/or a new life situation). 

• Academic or work difficulties (trouble getting to work or class, poor grades or performance reviews, over-placement, interpersonal conflicts with authorities or peers)
• Over-commitment, performance anxiety
• Depression
• 

A loss or grief, or traumatic event
• Alcohol or drug problems