College is often a stressful phase of life. For many students, that doesn’t change when a semester ends and they head back home or off to a job or internship.
While a break from the academic grind may be welcome, it’s common for students to experience anxiety, loneliness or sadness when their college life — with new rhythms, routines and social connections — is interrupted by breaks. For some students, semester breaks mean assimilating back into a home environment that’s different than the independent lifestyle they’ve grown accustomed to at college, which can be an additional source of stress.
“Depending on the type of student, the end of the semester is either a good thing or a bad thing,” says Michael London, CEO of Uwill, a company that partners with more than 200 universities to offer virtual therapy to students. “Many students experience stress around these times for various reasons.”
Uwill saw a 46% spike in overall appointments in November 2023, and the highest number of appointments scheduled to date this calendar year came the Monday following Thanksgiving break. Longer breaks that come at the end of semesters may also be accompanied by heightened stress surrounding academic performance, personal financial stability, family dynamics or future professional plans, experts say.
Many schools operate on a traditional schedule with a fall and spring semester, with breaks in December and January ranging between three and four weeks, and summer breaks typically around 10 or 12 weeks. For some students, particularly international students, it’s not always feasible to travel home during breaks, making those weeks feel isolating.
“Students often have a plan for that longer summer break and often less of a plan for the semester break in the winter,” says Stephanie Pinder-Amaker, director of the College Mental Health Program at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts.
[Read: Stress in College Students: What to Know.]
Many students work jobs or internships during the longer summer break, she notes. “If the semester break happens to coincide with the holidays, then you have additional stressors that can really be exacerbated.”
When the adrenaline of a semester or school year subsides is often when mental health issues are heightened or exposed, experts say. Students should have a plan for how to maintain wellness and manage stress as they enter long breaks. Here are a few tips experts offer to do just that.
Prioritize Sleep, Diet and Exercise
To cope with mental health struggles, experts say good sleep, a proper diet and regular exercise remain some of the best tactics. They can help maintain some structure that’s been established over the course of the semester and avoid lulls that could increase anxiety.
“Students have a schedule. Now you’re talking about this period of a month or so where there’s nothing scheduled. That’s a shift,” says Micky Sharma, director of student life counseling and consultation service at The Ohio State University. “When you talk about students who may have some struggles, adding a schedule may help you positively manage your mental health.”
It’s also OK to take time at the start of the break to debrief from the semester, relax and catch up on sleep, he says.
“You just came off finals week, where sleep, exercise and nutrition go out the window,” he says. “So you’re going to have a rebound effect first, where you may get home, wherever that may be and you just catch up on sleep. That’s fine. But I think what can be helpful is to find some structure during the break. Not the same structure you have during the 16-week semester, but having some plans and activities and planning ahead can help give you that structure.”
Set Boundaries
It’s common for students to work or want to be active during semester breaks. That’s great, experts say, but students should be careful not to overextend themselves.
Setting boundaries for when to be available and when to have alone time is crucial to maintaining mental health, says Michael Mason, a staff psychotherapist in counseling and psychological services at the University of Virginia. Students need to allow time to recharge mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. Students should avoid “performative” wellness, he says, and instead be open about when they’re not emotionally feeling up for doing something.
[READ: How to Deal With College Finals Stress]
“We are so cultured to think the holidays are about others. It’s about family, it is about community,” he says. “All of that is true, but it does not mean it has to be done at the expense of the self. Most college students are struggling because they don’t have space for themselves.”
For some students who return home for breaks, certain aspects of their family or community dynamics may cause stress, particularly during the winter break where extended time around family may be expected during holidays.
In some cases, hot-button political and societal issues have caused fractures within families and left students stressed about possibly encountering uncomfortable or controversial conversations. If it’s a situation that will amplify mental health issues, students should create a plan for how to remove themselves from or completely avoid it, even if that means skipping a gathering or not engaging with potentially problematic people, experts say.
Maintain Social Connections
For students who are away from home at college, friends start to feel like family. A break in the school year can put a pause on things like social gatherings and club meetings, removing students from their typical social circles.
If students have a network of friends and family to spend time with while home on breaks, they should make time to do so, experts say. But it’s also important to stay connected with college friends who might be elsewhere during breaks. Text messaging, video chat and social media make that possible.
“Make time for video chats and take the time to connect each day,” Katie Hurley, a senior clinical adviser at the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to protect emotional health and prevent suicide among teens and young adults, wrote in an email. “Private stories are a great way to share your winter break happenings with your roommates and close friends while you’re apart.”
How Parents Can Detect a Struggling Student
Extended time at home during breaks may provide parents a lens into their child’s mental health issues that weren’t as apparent through text messaging or phone conversations. Irritability, isolation, low appetite, lost interest in hobbies or neglect of hygiene may be signs that a student is mentally struggling, London says.
Though the student may technically be an adult, that doesn’t mean parents have to stop parenting, experts say.
[READ: How Parents Can Support the Adjustment to College]
“Trust your instinct,” says Jessica Gomez, a clinical psychologist and executive director of Momentous Institute, a research-based organization that provides mental health services and educational programming to children and families. “As a parent, you know your kid, and if something seems a little bit off, lean in with curiosity. Have that open communication.”
Parents should do this without suffocating their child, experts say, and seek to strike a balance between enforcing house rules as they see fit and understanding that “it’s developmentally on target for college students” to be autonomous and independent, Gomez says.
Know when to push them and when to let them rest, she says. “That’s what keeps relationships strong. (Parents) pivot in real time. We’re empathetic and not rigid.”
If students need it, parents should encourage them to seek therapy during breaks, London says. Students who seek therapy from UWill, for example, are able to see a therapist the day they set up an appointment, even on holidays. Many colleges offer mental services during breaks, either through campus-based or third-party services.
“That’s a good thing colleges are doing in recognizing that this is a 365-day challenge,” London says.
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How to Maintain Good Mental Health During College Breaks originally appeared on usnews.com
