Symptoms of Distress in Students

Sometimes signs of distress are very clear while at other times these signs may be masked so various categories that you can keep in mind:

Academic performance:

• Poor performance in class or graded component that is unusual for the student.
• Excessive absences or being late to class often.
• Keep asking for extensions due to extreme indecisiveness, laziness or procrastination.
• Repeated emails about special considerations regarding course work, CP, attendance.
• Excessive concern about grades even when they are giving a satisfactory performance.
• Increased dependence on you or the TA, which is unusual for the client.

Behavioral Signs:

• Disruptive behavior in class
• Restless or lacking energy or irritability
• Dosing off or sleeping in class
• Marked changes in personal hygiene
• Confused or disjointed speech patterns.
• Aggressive or violent behavior
• Constant mood shifts or inappropriate expression of emotions.
• Beak down or crying spells
• Hyperactivity or anxious behaviors
• Extreme changes in body weight
• Bizarre or strange behavior indicating a loss of contact with reality

Emotional Signs:

• Excessive irritability—disruptive classroom behavior like speaking out of turn, arguing with the instructor or admin, engaging in confrontation behaviors with other students in class.
• Excessive Anxiety — gaging in confrontation behaviors with other students in class. Excessive Anxiety — the student is constantly tense, looks burnt out or overwhelmed. Keeps blabbering, stammering, or becoming very quiet. You may see or feel a shortness of breath, sweat, pale skin, or dizziness in the student.
• Excessive low Mood — the student may seem disinterested, may have difficulty focusing, may seem sleepy in class, lethargic walk or speech, expresses either verbally or in writing feels of being worthless and hopeless

Unusual or odd behaviors:

• Suspiciousness or paranoia
• Hearing voices
• Talking to self
• Disjointed or disorganized speech
• Excessively rapid speech
• Laughing at self or unusual things
• Poor eye contact

References to suicide or homicide:

• Verbal or written mention of suicide
• Statements of being helpless or hopeless
• Indications and mentions of being unhappy for a long time
• Indications that the student tends to isolate from friends
• Doesn’t want to discuss the future or feel very pessimistic about it

Statements like the following can be heard:

• “I’m not going to take it anymore”
• “Things will never going to get better”
• “I just don’t have the energy want to struggle anymore”
• “I see no point in anything”
• “No one would care if I were not here”
• “I’m have become burden on everyone”
• “Everyone would be better off without me”
• “It won’t matter soon”
• “I’m going to kill myself”
• “I wish I were dead”
• “I want to end it all”