Orlando Counselor on 10 Tips to De-Stress Your College Life

By Jim WestPublished On: July 29th, 20181.7 min read

I was speaking with an old college friend the other day who was talking about her daughter going off to college for the first time and how she was worried about her. Her daughter was afraid of how she would do in school and if she would have a social life. I hear so many stories about how college freshman are so stressed out during their first year of school and struggle with balancing school and living on their own. Many end up moving back home because it is too difficult.

Going off to college can be a stressful time but here are a few simple tips that could help de-stress your life when moving away for the first time.

1. Force yourself to meet new people and get to know them. Don’t isolate yourself and stay in your apartment or dorm. It is one of the worst things you can do.
2. Join a club, sorority, or any type of group that you can meet new people. Being involved in activities helps you make friends and do something useful.
3. Determine what things are relaxing and fun and make a list.
4. Determine what things cause stress and make a list.
5. Increase the things that are relaxing and fun.
6. Decrease the things that cause stress.
7. Spend time with people you care about and that care about you. If you don’t have anyone close to you at school yet, make sure you maintain contact with your close friends and family. This is a way for you to process what you are experiencing in your new life.
8. Try to replace worrying with positive thoughts. It is so easy to let your mind think only negative things.
9. Exercise.
10. Get adequate rest. If you are going to stay up late make sure you can sleep in the next day.

For more information on how to adjust to college life, go to our StressLess with Transitions to College program.

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Jim West

Adolescent Expert, Jim West offers expert advice to Local and National TV News & Schools Internationally and provides phone or face-to-face counseling in the Orlando area. Jim is an Author, Communicator, School Consultant, Nationally Certified and State Licensed Counselor and specializes in counseling for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADD/ADHD) and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). Jim has been interviewed for multiple TV, Radio, magazine and newspaper articles. He is president of Total Life Counseling Center and his Total Life approach accelerates the therapeutic & healing process by relating to children, adolescents and adults and incorporating wellness. Jim’s clients travel from all over Florida, England, Georgia, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas as he has been able to treat clients with ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression and more with FDA approved supplements and Dietary Modifications. 85% of his clients have not needed medication or used less medication than when they first came to Total Life Counseling Center.

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Total Life Counseling Center consists of Licensed Counselors, masters level therapists, Español counselors, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, business coaches, and image enhancement coaches who provide counseling for emotional, mental, physical and spiritual care including marriage, individual, family, substance abuse and more. TLC’s family, trauma and marriage experts have been interviewed on National and Local TV/Radio over 200 times for their expert advice on Fox News, OWN, WETV, ABC’s Medical Minute and more. Our skilled counselors are relational, approachable and specialists providing therapy services in the Central Florida area including: Orlando, Winter Park, MetroWest, Windermere, Dr. Phillips, East Orlando, Lake Mary, and Clermont, Boca Raton Florida, and Dallas, TX.