Sharon Li, Contributing Photographer

At Yale, many students face constant pressure to excel. With ever-increasing expectations surrounding achievement, career opportunities and the demands of balancing schoolwork with extracurriculars, academic pressure can take a serious toll on students.

The News spoke with Yale faculty and students who provided insight into the causes and symptoms of academic pressure — and what can be done to reverse it.

“Academic stress is a significant contributor to anxiety and burnout among students,” wrote professor Laurie Santos, a cognitive scientist and a professor of psychology at Yale. “The pressure to perform— especially at a place like Yale— can create a cycle of negative thoughts and self-talk, leading to procrastination and increased anxiety.” 

Many students today struggle with chronic stress, anxiety and depression as they attempt to meet high academic expectations. Emotional stress was cited by 69 percent of bachelor’s degree students and 55 percent of community college students, according to a report by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation. 

These conditions stem not only from heavy workloads but also from a pervasive fear of failure and the feeling of inadequacy that often accompanies it.

“I think specifically with students at Yale, you can get stuck in this tunnel vision of the idea that these four years here are the most important thing in your entire life and that nothing else really exists,” Andrea Gately ’26, a student ambassador for Yale College Community Care, told the News. “You kind of start to think of yourself as a student first and a person second, and that can manifest in a lot of different ways, both mental and physical.”

Amy Arnsten, a professor of neuroscience and psychology, provided insight into the neurobiological basis behind symptoms of burnout and pressure.

Arnsten highlighted that a person’s perception of their ability to control a stressor significantly impacts how it affects their brain. For example, when someone feels overwhelmed by demands or the pressure to complete certain tasks that they believe to exceed their abilities — even if that belief is inaccurate — they are likely to perceive the task with fear. This fear activates stress pathways that, in turn, weaken the prefrontal cortex and strengthen more primitive parts of the brain.

“It’s vital for students to prioritize their mental health, especially in the face of academic pressure,” Santos wrote. “Studies show that when students aren’t taking care of their stress levels, they wind up performing worse and feeling worse.”

Gately noted that academic pressure can push the body into a “fight or flight mode,” which leads to poor concentration, memory problems and a consistent state of worrying “where the mind is never really quiet.”

Gately explained that all of these factors contribute to a weakened academic performance, leading to a vicious cycle.

According to Santos, stress can have profound effects on both our mental and physical health.

“Mentally, it can lead to heightened anxiety, irritability, and difficulty concentrating,” Santos stated. “Physically, chronic stress can manifest in a number of problematic ways from headaches, gastrointestinal issues and even inflammation and a weakened immune system.”

Santos emphasized that this mounting pressure can also have long-term effects on students’ health. 

She explained that stress can trigger inflammatory responses in the body and that chronic inflammation is associated with telomere shortening occurring in chromosomes, meaning that stress can damage cells and lead to accelerated aging among students.

“At Yale, we see a lot of changes in behavior regarding eating patterns, and then sleeping patterns specifically,” Gately said. “A lot of students will go to bed very late, depending on if they’re doing work or if they’re staying up with friends or partying, and then waking up very early. A lot of students drink a lot of caffeine and energy drinks. All of these things affect your sleep schedule, and your sleep schedule affects your entire bodily regulation.”

Santos notes that external factors including workload, social support and financial pressures can be combated through engaging in physical activity, maintaining a strong support network, changing your self-talk and practicing mindfulness.

In addition to developing healthy habits, faculty members also advocated for students to utilize Yale’s many resources to manage academic stress.

“Gaining confidence can be helpful, including getting help if you are feeling out of control of a situation,” Arnsten wrote. “Yale has many resources — take advantage of them. When possible, plan ahead to distribute your workload to make it more manageable.”

Corinne Coia, the director of Student Well-Being at Yale College Community Care, explained that the Yale initiative seeks to work individually with students to help build tailored skills.

The initiative, also known as YC3, hosts regular workshops to help students gain stress management skills.

“The goal of this work is to help students explore and understand some of the root causes of their stress while also working to build in realistic stress management techniques that can be helpful while at Yale and beyond their time here,” Coia said.

Coia also encouraged students to visit Yale’s The Good Life Center, which serves as a space for students to relax, reconnect with friends, and unplug from technology. 

She noted that The Good Life Center offers an “offline oasis” which is a technology-free space for students to play games, hang out with friends and relax.”

“Our spaces are designed to help students feel calmer and serve as a physical reminder that rest is important to our overall well-being,” Coia said. “At the Good Life Center, you will find spaces like our nap room with evidence-based education on sleep.”

The Good Life Center also employs four College Care Clinicians and five Community Wellness Specialists that help students stay on track writing papers and finishing assignments, reminding them of their goals through sessions and therapeutic programs.

Spaces at The Good Life Center are open to all students with the main student hubs located on the second floor of the Schwarzman Center and in recently expanded satellite locations in Silliman College, The Divinity School, the School of Nursing on West Campus and Student Accessibility Services on Broadway.

“I hope that the Good Life Center can remind people to just take a second and take a breath,” Gately said. “Remind yourself that you are a person first and a student second.”

Students can schedule meetings with counselors at Yale Mental Health & Counseling here.