Running Head: CAUSAL ARGUMENT: ACADEMIC STRESS IN COLLEGE 1

The Negative Impact of Stress in College

Nate Perry

San Juan College

CAUSAL ARGUMENT: ACADEMIC STRESS IN COLLEGE 2

The Negative Impact of Stress in College

Introduction

Academic stress is a growing concern of many college students and academics alike.

Academic stress is defined as Academic stress is the pressure a student perceives they are under

to do well within schooling (Bernstien, Chemaly, 2017, David Robotham, 2008).This academic

stress can lead to negative consequences such as, increased academic pressure and failure, a

codependency to different types of drugs, an increased use of alcohol, and mental health issues

pushing students to a breaking point. Positive effects are far and few between and merely include

an increased stress tolerance and better critical thinking. Academic stress in college students

leads to very few positive effects, and an excess of negative consequences; therefore, it is

negative to overall success of college level students.

Grade Damage

College students have an incredible amount of academic stress placed on their shoulders

and this can lead to negative academic reactions. Students develop academic stress from their

grades, tests, and studying habits, their ability to maintain these various stressors can be too

much for some students. When a student’s stress exceeds what they can handle it causes grade

slips, a quick drop in a students’ grades, which creates and increase in academic stress and

pressure, this causes a vicious cycle that continues with nearly no end in sight. Grade slips are

clearly not good for a college student academic success in the university, with grade slips the

chances of a student passing a course slips with it. The current completion rate for college

students is 35% and with constant stress and grade slips, the chances for graduation drop.
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Illicit Drugs

College students suffering from large amounts of academic stress can, and often do, turn

to drugs this includes both illicit and prescription. This drug use is widespread among all college

campuses across the United States. Illicit drugs are any and all illegal substances like cocaine,

marijuana, meth, heroin, acid, psychedelic mushrooms, etc. These drugs are used widespread

across campuses with 36.5% of students on average having used marijuana at their college

campus, that’s more than one third of all college students in the United States has turned to

marijuana (Lipari, Francois, 2016). According to SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health

Statistics and Quality, and National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, roughly 0.12% of college

students use cocaine, 0.11% of college students use psychedelic drugs such as acid or

mushrooms, 0.05% of college students use heroin, and 0.04% of college students use

methamphetamines, all of this is on a weekly basis (Lipari, Francois, 2016). College students

turning to these illicit drugs, in an anonymous poll by SAMHSA, stated that they turned to these

drugs because of discomfort on college campuses and difficulty dealing with academics (Lipari,

Francois, 2016)..These drugs invading college students lives is a nearly direct effect of the

immense academic stress they come into contact with every day, these drugs also have massively

devastating effects on their overall health, which can continue throughout their lives. Lasting

health effects of marijuana use include, decreased motivation; poor physical and mental health;

as well as more relationship issues than those who do not use the drug. Lasting effects of cocaine

include; chronic extreme fatigue; extreme headaches; abdominal pain; nosebleeds; significant

weight loss; heart arrhythmias and heart attack; strokes; seizures; and even death. Lasting effects

of LSD/acid include Persistent Psychosis and Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder, these

effects are rare however they can occur after only one use. The lasting effects of heroin include
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extreme addiction, bone pain, and brain deterioration. Lasting effects of methamphetamines

include anxiety, psychotic behavior, black rotting teeth, and extremely dry skin (Lipari, Francois,

2016).

Study Drugs

Prescription drugs are also abused by many stressed college students, especially drugs

that supposedly helpful for them. These drugs are commonly known as “Study Drugs”, among

these drugs there are two that stand above the others, Ritalin and Adderall (University of Texas

at Austin, 2018). Adderall and Ritalin are drugs generally used to treat Attention-

deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, as they help those with this disorder to focus and control

themselves more efficiently. College students abuse Adderall and Ritalin because when a person

without ADHD takes it they are able to focus at an extreme level and operate their brains at

extreme rates, this means college students can write a paper the night before its due, or take

extensive notes for a big test all very time efficiently (University of Texas at Austin, 2018).

Adderall and Ritalin however, have major drawbacks for those who take them and do not have

ADHD; these include insomnia, depression, fatigue, aggression, paranoia, hallucinations,

anxiety, weight loss, tremors, and heart disease (University of Texas at Austin, 2018).

Alcoholism

Stressed college students are on the brink of adulthood and often see themselves as

adults, adults can drink alcohol. When stressed college students decide that the academic stress is

just too much some turn to alcohol. Alcohol is what is known as a depressant, or a substance that

depresses the human body, everything moves slower and the brain gets impaired. Alcohol is a

growing and consistent problem on college campuses, with the rise of binge drinking among
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students alcohol is just as dangerous if not more dangerous than the drugs used on campuses

(Richardson, 2018). Nearly 80% of college students drink alcohol to some degree, about 50%

engage in binge drinking (Richardson, 2018). Consuming alcohol as a coping mechanism for

academic stress can lead to a wide variety of major health issues, those under the impairment of

alcohol are much more likely to miss classes and fail, engage in unsafe sex, assault or be

assaulted, and even die from risky behavior ((Elysia Ruchardson, 2018). These are not healthy

behaviors and can lead to major disruptions in student success both in life and in college.

Mental and Physical Health

Academic stress can cause a wide array of mental health challenges that students suffer

from. These include fear, anxiety, guilt, and depression, which can lead to suicidal tendencies.

Anxiety is developed from the increasing weight of work that is levied against college students,

especially those seeking accelerated courses of study, and or those in science, math, and

humanities areas. Fear and guilt can be caused by a wide array, however it is generally agreed

that the most common factors causing fear or guilt is the fear of failing and the guilt of substance

abuse. Lastly depression, depression is defined as “A mental health disorder characterized by

persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in

daily life” (NIMH, 2018). Depression is generally caused by the physical effects of academic

stress, these include unhealthy eating habits, which leads to weight gain or loss at an unhealthy

rate students may also experience lack of exercise and lack of sleep due to time constraints and

stress. All of this mixed together is the recipe for depression to take root within college students.
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Positive Effects

With all of these negative effects of academic stress within college students, from the

illegal drugs that are abused and cause major, long lasting effects, to the prescription drugs that

help and hurt the students, to the major alcohol epidemic on college campuses, something good

actually does come out of it all. There are proven signs that the academic stress that college

students face is able to help them develop an increased ability to assess and respond effectively

during emergency situations (David Robotham, 2008). This means the stress a student faces has

the incredible ability to help them later on if they’re caught in an emergency, such as a fire or

shooting. Another positive effect stems from the fact that life is a stressful thing, jobs are

stressful nearly 80% of people report that their jobs stress them out and 42% say that they need

help managing it. Finances are another major life stressor 30% of Americans say they are

stressed constantly and 85% say they experience some stress about their financial situation (AIS,

2018). Relationships are stressful, 58% of people say they are stressed by their relationships. All

of these things are essentials in life and all of them cause stress, the second good thing that

comes from the stress in college is that students who are very stress are much better at handling

and dealing with it later on in life. This means that they are more likely to be a part of the 38% of

job stressed people who do not need help managing their stress, because they have the advantage

of already knowing how. This is a major positive outcome of a stressful college life; however the

negatives are more numerous and much more damaging, both to the students and their future

success. In my examination of this evidence that has been presented it is obvious that the

numerous negative effects of the stress that these college students are under is so much more

damaging to the overall success and that is why these positives are almost worthless to know.
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Conclusion

In conclusion, academic stress is a detrimental and negative product of colleges that

predominantly affects college students. Academic stress leads to a plethora of negative

consequences such as academic failure, use of illicit substance like marijuana, heroin, cocaine,

and meth, it can also lead to the abuse of study drugs like Ritalin, and academic stress can lead to

mental and physical health difficulties and changes which are almost never good. Academic

stress can however help those who suffer from it to generate a keen ability to think better and

clearer during stressful situations and can prepare for the stresses of everyday life. Though there

are positives to academic stress they are greatly overshadowed by the crippling negatives.

Therefore, academic stress is detrimental to the overall success of college students, both in

college and in life.

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Works Cited

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Bernstein, C., & Chemaly, C. (2017). Sex Role Identity, Academic Stress and Wellbeing of

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