Business schools generally attract high-achieving students. Sometimes, business schools attract students who are not super driven. And more often than is acknowledged, business schools attract students who just aren’t sure who they are and what they want to do. Anxiety and depression are rampant in business schools but poorly researched and even more poorly addressed. The first indications something is wrong is often in second semester Freshman year. That ‘new-car smell’ of college has worn off from the Fall and now the reality of intense work loads and social life become too much. I see many students flirting with academic probation at this point which adds yet another level of stress to the semester. Here are some of the initial topics I cover with students when I start working with them:
How did you choose your school and major? It’s pretty common for students to make decisions with that adolescent brain on their shoulders – primarily thinking about not letting mom and dad down or making lots of money when they graduate.
What does your daily and weekly life look like? Typically, there’s not much of a plan and they’re just trying to get as much work done as possible and hang out with friends Thur-Sun before it all starts over again. They are drowning and keeping their head above water for moments at a time.
How are you sleeping, eating and exercising? It’s always the same – terrible. Sleep is the one thing we should not be compromising yet it’s the first thing college students push aside. This leads to compromised immune function, increased sickness, diminished information retention, etc. It’s just bad.
What do you feel and think about throughout the day? Yeah, sounds like an esoteric therapy question but it’s more of a projective test – I’m interested in hearing how out of touch they are with themselves. Normally, this is the point when students start sharing about their drug use, alcohol use and feeling isolated from friends.
What’s your ideal life look like? Another projective test. If they don’t have an ideal version of life, it’s concerning. Healthy people, even if they aren’t feeling great, conceive of a version of life they want to have which helps them implement strategies to get there.
Business school students really do have a different set of stressors and would do well to be assessed not only for their academic abilities but also their behavioral health challenges and attributes.