El Paso mental health expert offers advice for college students facing emotional challenges

EL PASO, TX (KVIA) -- As college students begin a new academic year and transition into a new phase of life, the pressure can feel overwhelming.

ABC-7 spoke to Krista Wingate, Chief of Child and Adolescent Services at Emergence Health Network, who explained that college students may experience a range of emotional challenges. These challenges include fearfulness, anxiety, and even a lack of self-worth.

“For a college age student, regardless of the grade level, it's really important to look at their everyday functioning” Wingate says. “So how often out of the week are they maybe not wanting to get out of bed and go to class? How often are they skipping out on a lunch or dinner with their friends or their family that they committed to?”

Wingate notes that the transition can be particularly difficult for incoming freshmen who are navigating new responsibilities and freedoms. “They're getting ready to spread their wings and parents should be, encouraging them to do things on their own, giving them some independence. Yet at the same time just trying to find that balance of, okay, I'm here to support you,” she says. 

Wingate emphasizes that parents play an essential role in supporting their college-aged children and maintaining open communication is key. “As a parent, if you're feeling a little bit of anxious, you're feeling fearful because they're going to be sleeping in a dorm or they're going to be renting a house with other peers, talk to your kids about that," Wingate advises. "Always ask, what can I do to support you? How is it that I can help? So that way you can get the input from your college student about maybe where it is that they need more support."

The weight of decision-making and the pressure to succeed can feel overwhelming, Wingate says it’s crucial for students to seek help early.

“They can go to support groups, get involved in different activities on campus or with other peers, their own age, and talk about the struggles, talk about the struggles learned from other people, get the coping skills,” Wingate says. “Learn how to manage the stress so that way it doesn't continue to follow them and they don't continue to struggle with stress, especially as years go on, particularly for freshmen, or they're just entering college.”

Wingate says many students may also turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as substance use, to deal with stress or fit in with their peers. “You see it a lot on social media and the media in general. Have a drink. It's okay. That'll make you feel better," she says. "The thing with drugs and alcohol is that it may make you feel better in the short term, in the very immediate. But when you become intoxicated or you start to use substances as a way of coping and then limits your ability to possibly use other healthy ways of coping with stress in life challenges in the future."

Journaling, exercise, or simply taking a break and watching a movie are all healthy ways to cope with stress, according to Wingate. “Journaling, I like to call it brain dump. You just envision it. Get everything out of your head. Just put it all on a piece of paper or type it up on your phone or on a computer, just doing visualization. So imagine all that stress, just leaving your brain, leaving your body and leaving it on the paper,” she says.

Everyone has different ways of coping, it depends what the person likes to do, it could even be crafts, going to a dance class, or even just sitting and watching the sunset for 20 minutes.

Emergence Health Network (EHN) offers a variety of mental health programs for all ages, to learn more about their services you can click here.

You can also call the EHN crisis hotline at 915-779-1800.