Everyone gets scared, but for someone with anxiety fear it’s more than just a worry, is a crippling doubt.

Every day on campus I hear stories about students working an extra shift and couldn’t find the time to study for their exam the next day. Or someone who had a panic attack on the way to school, because they know that their day is going to be extremely stressful.

College students face the stress of school, money, work, drama and life itself. Sometimes it becomes more than a little stress and that’s when it’s time to get help.

According to psychologytoday.com the average high school student has the same anxiety levels as a patient in a 1950s insane asylum. In a given year 17 percent of us will be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, which is usually accompanied with 2 to 3 other mental illnesses.

Unfortunately, they take this with them through adult life.

Anxiety makes people feel as if they are out of their body. They don’t know what’s going to happen and the sheer terror is enough stress in and of itself.

This disorder is something that tends to control people’s lives and has been a part of mine for three years.

Anxiety can hit at any point in time. It makes the person go from happy to attack mode in seconds.

I have been told too many times to just “calm down.”  But, it depends on our triggers.

Personally, my trigger is school. The feel of failing, cramming and stress. Sometimes taking a breather and finding an outlet for emotion can help.

According to the thekimfoundation.org anxiety affects over one in four people and we all have different triggers. Some prominent triggers on college campuses include speaking in class, doing a presentation, even answering a question.

No one should make fun of someone’s fear; remember that it might be more than just worry. It could be something that haunts their every move.