Around 5% of the students we support suffer from anxiety. Students who have a diagnosis of anxiety are likely to be able to access support from a Mentor.

Anxiety is a feeling of heightened worry or uneasiness but remember, it’s not always a bad thing. We all experience elements of stress within our daily lives e.g. before we travel, prior to a blood test or waiting to sit an exam / driving test. Suffering from anxiety might make you feel nervous, panicky or tearful, you may experience trouble sleeping, you may find yourself sweating, feeling sick or feint or needing to go to the loo more often.

How would we support a client with anxiety?

• We’d work to boost self-esteem by looking at CV’s and re-working them to highlight individual achievements. Keeping note of these in a diary or phone can be useful as they can be referred to during a low moment to help build self-worth
• By encouraging better time management and assessing routines. If there’s a lot of empty time suggest ways to fill it. Having a lot of free time can cause anxiety as there’s time to worry about things. Conversely, lots of activities can cause anxiety as there is no alone time or time to relax. Through talking, ascertain how to achieve a balance and help them to write a schedule to factor in social and work time.
• Using role play to revisit situations which have caused anxiety. Look at previous reactions and discuss how this could have been handled differently
• Discuss compliments and talk about what they like about themselves or what they are good at