Back Home > Information and Advice > How to reduce anxiety and stress

How to reduce anxiety and stress

It is normal to feel anxious sometimes, like when you are starting a university course or approaching a deadline. This activity is about helping you to manage these feelings and includes tips from other autistic students.

Background

xkcd comic - pastime
Students in the Autism&Uni surveys said they found these things stressful at university:

  • Choosing the right subject to study
  • Group work
  • Sudden changes to timetables and assignments (speak to your lecturer or tutor about how these affect you)
  • Exams
  • Not getting the support they needed
  • Noisy classrooms and lecture theatres
  • Not liking where they live
  • Sensory issues
  • Getting lower marks than they hoped for
  • Travelling to and from university
  • Fitting in (see Talking about autism article)
  • Making presentations and talking in public

How could this affect me?

Other people on your course will probably be struggling with many of the same issues (hopefully not all at the same time!). As autistic people tend to have higher levels of anxiety than other adults, it’s important to know how to deal with these feelings (alongside other forms of support like therapy, counselling and medication where appropriate) so that they don’t become overwhelming.

Hopefully you will have been able to access support at university and have other people you trust to talk to when you are finding things difficult, like friends, family members and professionals. However, it’s a good idea to have places where you can go and activities you feel comfortable doing yourself when you feel overloaded and stressed.

What to do next?

Try out some of the activities below

Practical tips

These activities were popular with the students and graduates in our surveys for reducing stress:

  • Exercise/sport, particularly outside
  • Music
  • Art
  • Meditation and mindfulness
  • Favourite food and drink
  • Chatting with family and friends
  • Mentoring
  • Talking to lecturers and tutors
  • Spending time with animals if this is possible. If you do not have an animal maybe you can work out a safe handover with a friend who does
  • Online games or other leisure activities you enjoy.

There is also a useful breathing exercise video on YouTube:

Questions to think about

  1. What do you like to do at home that makes you feel relaxed?
  2. What food and drink makes you feel better? Can you make sure you have some with you?
  3. Who can you talk to?
  4. What do your lecturers and tutors know about how autism affects you?
  5. Where can you go if you feel stressed out? Make a list of places.
  6. What is your favourite form of exercise?