Wendy Linares

Health Education 044

June 11, 2017

Case Study Analysis

Self-efficacy is an individual's belief in their ability to succeed in accomplishing certain

tasks or a specific situation. Too many college students suffer from this, leaving everything they

work on in jeopardy when the pressure rises and they are placed with a lot of weight in their

shoulders. Many of these people believe in doing everything by themselves, leaving themselves

and their lives in danger whenever they have these panic or anxiety attacks due to stress. College

students can strive in studies, can strive academically but at the same time have trouble when

pressure is placed for example during tests or whenever an important situation is confronted.

A college student suffers a lot of stress due to the fact that they must maintain a certain

GPA and must score in a certain criteria. Katya is a college student with a 3.0 GPA and even

though she studies immensely, she still feels like her efforts are not enough. She believes that no

matter how much she studies she will never get passed her severe anxiety right before tests.

Recently, she even had a panic attack 2 days away from a test to determine if she got a

scholarship. I can relate to this so much because I have recently been dealing with so much stress

in my life that It has felt like my life has fallen apart and become very low. Sundays are usually

days where I go out with friends or with my boyfriend, but this Sunday I felt like I mentally,

physically and emotionally shut myself down. I had so much homework between the 4 classes

that I am trying to juggle and on the final weeks of this class I just broke down. I cancelled

whatever plans I had to do today and I asked for some help because I know I couldnt handle this

by myself. And asking for help is something I hardly ever do, because I like to do things on my
own, but there are times that help is a great thing to receive which is something Katya needs to

understand. I was trying to take on too much items on at the same time and my grades or my

social life was going to take the hit of everything.

I believe to prevent this from happening again and risking another attack the professional

help should be looked into and maybe request its service. Too many people go without seeking

for help by a professional for God knows how long and end hurting themselves and the people

she loves. For example, in the article, High Anxiety: Managing Panic Attacks, by Cheryl

Patterson, she states, Avoidance of people and situations, self-blame, and wishful thinking with

less likelihood of a problem-solving view or approach is a common characteristic among people

suffering from panic disorder. (Patterson) We tend to always avoid anything negative in our

lives, especially telling people about our difficult situations we are going through. But in reality,

this is the only way to relieve the stress and have things bottled up because that itself causes

unnecessary stress we do not need to go through. Another thing that could be done is to keep a

copy of every assignment or test score you finish and prove to yourself that you can pass and

excel in these assignments. Proving yourself wrong might be the key to keeping your head above

the anxiety, showing you that time and time again you succeeded where you believed you would

fail. Self-efficacy is just a persons belief in one's worth. Self-esteem is a very delicate thing.

Anything sets it off and lowers it will result in making you doubt yourself, your skills and

anything you stand on. Do not believe you are above anxiety or stress. People need to know that

is it okay to rely on people, and that together, as a group, their is more we can do to not carry the

weight of the world on our shoulders alone.

Patterson, C. (2011). HIGH ANXIETY: Managing panic attacks. Alive: Canada's Natural Health

& Wellness Magazine, (343), 59-63.

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