College, Stress, and the Importance of the Default Mode Network
By Clare Hart UA’25 and Jim Stellar
What is the prevalence of stress in college students, whether conscious or unconscious? A 2025 report suggests that 44% of current undergraduate college students experience severe stress in college. That confirms many of our personal impressions that, yes, today’s college students do experience stress.
Though everybody experiences stress differently, certain basic brain areas underlie that feeling and its effects on our behavior. So, what are those brain areas, particularly the cognitive ones in the neocortex? The mammalian brain also has a limbic system and that system we have previously argued makes value inputs to the neocortex that is at the core of conscious/cognitive decision-making and feeling.
It is important to mention that not all stress is bad. As a matter of fact, stress can be really good. Stress can help to motivate us to get stuff done. However, stress becomes detrimental to an individual’s health when it is chronic or unmanageable. This is the type of stress referred to in this blog.
The question for this blog is how does the limbic system make that input, and what are the regions of the neocortex that are relative to this cognitive-emotional conversation in the brain, particularly in regard to stress. We chose three regions to discuss here: 1) medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), 2) posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and 3) angular gyrus (AG). We also see them as fitting with cognitive-emotional integration contributing to stress and stress management when one potentially goes out of one’s comfort zone to do an internship or take on many other aspects of the college experience, especially today.
Before delving into these three brain areas, we want to first introduce the Default Mode Network (DMN). First we have the figure below which emphasizes the broad interconnections in the brain and that came from a blog. We also note a review article by a researcher with a long and important history in this field. Finally, we mention that our group had written our own 2021 3-part blog about the DMN.
Briefly, the DMN itself becomes active when one is not involved in a task and doing self-referential thinking, i.e. reflection (perhaps on one’s career plans in/after college). When active the DMN connects the frontal lobes of the brain to the back of the brain where the frontal planning areas can manipulate the representation of objects in the world. This connection is seen to support mind-wandering when one has nothing to do – hence the “default” in the name. But the DMN has wider applications to functions and brain areas as we will see. That is why we are examining some of these other brain areas and then tying it back to college minds and stress experience as in our title. We note that the author of the DMN review cited above makes this statement in the abstract of the paper that we found compelling enough to repeat it here, “I argue that the DMN integrates and broadcasts memory, language, and semantic representations to create a coherent ‘internal narrative’ reflecting our individual experiences.” Constructing that coherent narrative seems to be a key job of college students in determining who they are at least in regard to their career plans … and particularly in a world that includes stress.
The above cited DMN review also considers the interactions of the DMN with the PCC, AG, and mPFC. To summarize briefly here, the PCC’s basic role in the DMN is thought to be in planning and memory recall, driving the shift between rest and active thinking. The AG is suggested to specifically aid in the transformation of sensory information into more abstract representations and has an interesting role in “Theory of Mind,” which concerns our own understanding of others’ mental states. The mPFC is seen as linked with emotion reappraisal, self-awareness, and mental time travel, which can account for daydreaming of past and possible future events. There are other important brain areas, but we will limit ourselves here to these three, particularly since these three areas seem to be involved in our sense of self that is important to making decisions in college, particularly in an environment where important decisions occur and stress is a factor.
The Default Mode Network, Brain Areas, and Stress
Stress has adverse effects on these three regions (and others) that play an intricate part when it comes to one’s experienced stress. As it is, the DMN is necessary for the healthy mental well-being of an individual and if compromised can have lasting, adverse effects. The DMN and stress levels contribute to our own experiences and feelings, oftentimes working together to keep stress levels at bay, or in some cases working against each other to exacerbate them.
The DMN is said, again as cited above, to be a distributed grouping of brain regions that remain at rest whilst we are focused on external stimuli. When there is no external stimuli to harbour our attention, the DMN is implicated in self-referential judgements, social cognition, episodic memory, language and semantic memory, and mind wandering. This includes future planning and internally focused thought such as daydreaming. It is argued that the DMN’s role in our episodic memory, language, and semantic memory is responsible for our internal monologue. The DMN is important for many reasons, as it can allow for memory consolidation in addition to social and emotional reflections, ultimately contributing to our healthy mental wellbeing.
Mind-wandering is when our thoughts drift away from our immediate task, such as zoning out, reminiscing, planning, or brainstorming. Mind-wandering can be a good or bad thing. On the positive side, it is associated with problem solving and emotional regulation. Both processes are necessary for a healthy lifestyle. On the other hand, mind-wandering can lead to distraction, procrastination, and rumination.
Experiences of stress can lead to altered functioning of the DMN which in turn can cause rumination, which occurs when one becomes almost obsessive about negative thoughts, feelings, or past experiences and their possible consequences. When ruminating, our brains are keeping us in a loop of overthinking where we get stuck in a cycle of rehashing negative causes and consequences. So you may find yourself repeating the issue in your head and making it the central point to your thoughts. This may also lead to negative feedback loops, reproducing this stress by allowing it to breed in our minds. So, the DMN has an important relationship with stress, in which it can define the stress experience by feeding into the negative effects of improper functioning in the DMN.
The Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC)
Located in the posteromedial cortex, the PCC is situated in the medial part of the inferior parietal lobe and is part of the DMN, functioning as a hub with multiple network connections that account for complex behavior.
More specifically, the PCC has been shown to upregulate activity of other areas of the DMN during self-related mental processes. As described in 2011, the PCC has three subregions, the ventral PCC, dorsal PCC, and the retrosplenial cortex. All three areas contribute to the functioning of the DMN. The ventral and dorsal areas are most interesting here as being implicated in the PCC’s mediating internally and externally focused cognition. For example while the brain is engaged in a high attention task the ventral PCC shows decreased integration with the DMN while the dorsal PCC’s integration increases. We think of this as both subregions mediating the PCC’s present role in the brain’s activity, managing the shift in rest and active thinking.
The PCC’s role in shifting between rest and active thinking defines its vital role in keeping the DMN on track. Stress can impact this action of the PCC and cause an overplay in active thinking when rest thinking is necessary for regulation. This imbalance can reproduce the stress feeling through this misregulation not allowing rest in the brain areas needed for proper, healthy functioning. For the PCC, its vital role in the DMN explains its most significant impact on stress. Moreover, the PCC’s function of regulating the transitions between mental rest and cognitive engagement is essential to avoiding overload and fatigue.
The PCC has been shown to have enhanced activation during self-referential processing. Because a central element to the DMN is self-referential processing, this constitutes another of the PCC’s central role in the network. Additionally, it is the PCC who sustains this processing through its connection with other brain areas such as the hippocampus, which plays a crucial role in learning and memory. This is in large part through episodic memory because of these hippocampal interactions. Episodic memory is defined as the ability to form and recall past events. More specifically, for the PCC is autobiographical recall which comes from autobiographical memory. Autobiographical memory is the personal information regarding both episodic memories and broader self-related information. The broadcasting of self-related neural representations through the PCCs brain-wide connections allows the DMN to influence these areas and integrate these memories into present thought. This integration into present thought contributes to an individual’s sense of self through historical reflection. Through the PCC’s ability to recall autobiographical memories, it links together self-referential processing and internally directed thought, key components of the DMN.
The PCC acts as a hub for internally directed thought, through its integration, sustainment, and distribution of self-relevant information which constitutes its fundamental role in the DMN. It balances internal and external attention and helps to regulate transitions between the DMN and other task-related networks which supports cognition’s role in meeting real-world demands. Through its continuous processing and integration of self-related information, the PCC enables individuals to maintain a self-concept by supporting self-awareness and reflection on personal experiences. This ability to envision yourself in the past, present, or future is crucial for various processes such as decision making. The PCC’s ability to incorporate self-reflection based on autobiographical memories supports individuals in making the right choices for them. The PCC’s contributions to one’s construction of self ensures that our thinking remains tied to personal experiences through reflection and its integration with future thinking.
The Angular Gyrus (AG)
Due to the area’s location at the junction of the occipital, temporal, and parietal lobes, the angular gyrus is considered a hub that integrates information within these lobes.
Both the left and right AG are involved in many tasks and processes. This includes semantic processing as the main activator of the AG. Semantic processing is our brain’s ability to understand the meaning of something, such as the interpretation of language, conceptual categorization, and the connection of ideas. Furthering its role in the interpretation of language, the AG is involved in reading and comprehension. It is referred to as the center that turns written language into spoken language, and spoken language into written language. The AG is also involved in number processing, attention and spatial cognition, memory retrieval, conflict resolution, and “Theory-of-Mind” in relation to social cognition.
The AG’s function within the DMN is hypothesized to be its involvement in mental processes that take place during the processing and manipulation of knowledge during resting states, in other words this process is interrupted during tasks that involve effort. Its involvement in the above mentioned processes account for its contribution to our healthy functioning, and its important role in the DMN. The AG’s abilities in understanding information provides emphasis on its capacity to contribute to the DMN’s self-referential properties through the integration of these numerous cognitive inputs. The AG’s role as a hub for integrating information into concepts defines one of its contributions to the DMN as processing knowledge and retrieving conceptual meaning from past experiences during resting states, or memory retrieval, one of the AG’s key functions.
We mentioned this at the outset of this writing as an “internal narrative” and the left AG’s involvement may be important here as the left hemisphere is typically where language is located. The AG’s function in the retrieval and interpretation of semantic and personally relevant information supports our ability to take on another’s perspective. This interpretation of information involves the distinguishing of our own beliefs from another’s and that may be a function of the right AG’s encoding of relevant information, which allows us to make predictions on the present and future behaviors of others.
The DMN’s criticality in social cognition and self reflection mirrors some relevant aspects of Theory of Mind which refers to our abilities in understanding and predicting the thoughts and emotions of others that is helpful for normative social interaction. Theory of Mind defines the ability for us to acknowledge that others have their own thoughts, feelings, and intentions that may be different from our own. It is not an innate ability, as it is developed through life. Some individuals may not fully develop it. Theory of Mind involves the acknowledgement that others may have differing opinions or mental states from our own and allows us to make predictions on how someone feels in a particular situation.The informational integration behavior of the AG supports this understanding and contributes to the DMN’s critical function in social thinking and self reflection.
The angular gyrus thus serves as a hub connecting numerous lobes, allowing for seamless communication. The AG is involved in information processing and retrieval as well as information interpretation which is active during our brain’s resting state. The DMN’s necessary function in our understanding of social thinking mirrors Theory of Mind, both are supported by the AG’s abilities in knowledge processing and information integration which are necessary for effective social interaction.
The Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC)
The medial prefrontal cortex is located in the anterior most part of the frontal cortex, the mPFC is located on the medial wall of the brain’s hemispheres.
The mPFC’s location allows for information integration with multiple key brain areas involved in emotion, decision-making, social cognition, and self-referential thinking. The area is believed to play a key role in memory. More specifically memory consolidation and retrieval from both short and long term memory. This accounts for the mPFC’s contribution to the functions of the DMN through the integration of past experiences.
Its strong connection to the amygdala (AMG) gives us key insights into some of the interactions between the mPFC and other areas of the brain. The AMG is described in a recent blog as having a key role in emotional processing, such as fear and threat detection, and importantly to emotional valence. Emotional valence is described as the determination of an experience as pleasant or unpleasant. This process serves to guide our behaviors appropriately in certain situations. The mPFC helps to regulate the AMG by shaping emotional responses by evaluating the context, past experiences, and an individual’s goal in a situation. Though the mPFC is not involved in the acquisition of fear, that is the job of the AMG. This supports the idea that the AMG is responsible for the onset of emotional responses, while the mPFC supports these responses through more cognitive-based assessments and reappraisal. Both regions’ proper interaction keep emotions and emotional responses effectively well-regulated.
The mPFC’s strong engagement in emotion reappraisal, as evidenced by its interactions with the AMG, defines one of its core roles described (as above) in the DMN. Assisted by the AMG, the mPFC is able to monitor the mental states of oneself and others through its input using information from our memories, which is key to self-referential thinking, social cognition, and especially to mental time travel.
Mental time travel refers to the ability that humans possess, though arguably non-exclusively, to relive or imagine events in our minds from the past or future. This core function of the DMN is largely influenced by the mPFC which plays a crucial role in the integration of relevant information, emotional valence, and therefore decision making. When engaging in mental time travel, our mPFC works to integrate emotional significance based on the emotional valence of an event, whether real or imagined, that is created in conjunction with the AMG. Based on past experiences, the mPFC can attribute possible emotional responses to the situations our mental time travel may bring us to. (Have you ever been daydreaming about something when all of a sudden you get a seemingly random ping of anxiety in response to what you imagined? These may be the neurological mechanisms underlying that experience) The attribution of learned emotional responses to real or imagined experiences during mental time travel contribute to our social cognition, self-differentiation, and self-awareness therefore guiding future endeavors through this cognitive elaboration and evaluation.
Other brain areas and the DMN could be discussed but we will stop here as these three give the essence of the substructures and we refer the reader again to the 2020 DMN review.
Stress, Mood, the DMN, and College Students
Let’s introduce another factor at perhaps a more psychological level. For many people, college is the first stepping stone into adulthood. Its transitional nature can bring about personal nuances that have the possibility to adversely affect individuals. Inadequate functioning of the PCC, AG, and mPFC interferes with the effective functioning of the DMN under stress, which in turn can negatively reflect on the stress experience itself.
Healthy functioning of the DMN supports students’ abilities to live their lives to the fullest. For example, the PCC’s role in autobiographical memory recall allows individuals to have an idea of their future selves based on past experiences. This can incorporate student’s likes and dislikes, allowing them to make a fully informed decision. The PCC’s incorporation of self-reflection supports students in making decisions that are right for them, a crucial aspect of the college experience. The AG’s role in memory recall and language processing supports student’s academic wellbeing. Healthy functioning of the AG may support students’ in receiving good grades. Additionally, the AG supports social wellbeing that is mirrored through its involvement in Theory of Mind which is crucial for empathy and contributes to relationships. The mPFC’s role in emotion regulation and stress control through its interplay with the AMG play a large part in an individual’s functioning. It can support one’s resilience to stress, emotional stability, and coping abilities which all serve to contribute to one’s mental wellbeing. Students may benefit through healthy functioning of these areas academically, socially, and emotionally.
As briefly mentioned, college is a time in one’s life that may pose many stressful challenges. While students are attempting to navigate their new environment, they are also pressured with academic and social demands that may feel draining at times. When our coping mechanisms are exceeded, stress can trigger physiological, emotional, and/or behavioral responses, this includes the onset of mental disorders. In a new environment (such as college), various coping mechanisms may be not as obvious or available as they should be. This may cause a higher chance that stress triggers the above mentioned responses, painting college an environment inclined to reproducing this stress experience and possibly putting students at higher risk of developing a psychological disorder.
Mood Disorders and the DMN
A mood disorder is defined as a disruption in emotions, marked by either an overly heightened mood (mania), or overly lowered mood (depression). These disruptions may cause individuals to act abnormally and can interfere with their daily lives. This may prove to be harmful to these individuals and may result in needed clinical treatment.
Inadequate functioning of the PCC, AG, and mPFC (as previously mentioned) can be caused by stress and disruption in DMN activity may lead to behavioral or psychological changes. With stress as an aforementioned driving factor for the onset of mental disorders, dysfunction in the DMN is hence associated with numerous mental disorders as well. Being that college is an especially stressful time for individuals, subpar functioning of the DMN is likely to occur. This puts college students at high risk for mental health issues, and increased attention should be drawn to the possibility of stress induced complications for this population.
Suicidal Ideation and the DMN
DMN dysfunction poses threats to one’s well being. One study in particular used resting-state functional MRIs to examine differences in DMN function between mood disorder patients who have attempted suicide and patients who have not attempted suicide. Researchers found that increased posterior DMN activity was associated with recent suicidal activity, this can be defined as an abnormality in DMN function. This may be assumed as a consequence of negative self-referential thinking or inadequate transitioning between rest and active thinking which may consume an individual’s thoughts, perhaps even leading to rumination.
As college students report increasing suicidal ideation, this topic becomes especially dire. Those experiencing suicidal ideation cite, amongst other factors, psychological distress, mental health problems, and negative self/world schemas as contributing factors to their experiences. This dangerous consequence of inadequate neurological functioning may (at least in part) be attributed to DMN dysfunction.
The PCC’s aforementioned role in self-referential thinking may explain its involvement in rumination and depressive mood patterns. These two components may contribute largely to the above mentioned students’ reports of negative self/world schemas. A schema is a concept in psychology that is defined as a framework aimed at organizing and interpreting information. By interpreting the world negatively, feelings of hopelessness and a depressive mood pattern may arise. In alignment with this is rumination. Rumination is factor associated with suicidal ideation. Stress caused by substantial change in a college student’s life can account for dysfunction in their DMN. This puts students at high risk of irreversible damage caused by the misregulation of numerous neurological processes, such as the PCC’s role in the DMN.
Bipolar Disorder and the DMN
An example of a specific mood disorder with implications in the DMN is bipolar disorder (BD), which frequently has onset during transitions into adulthood (college). Bipolar disorder is characterized as a mental disorder in which individuals experience periods of elevated mood (mania) and lowered mood (depression). Individuals with bipolar disorder have brain abnormalities that impair their cognitive and emotional processing.
A meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies found some distinguishing features between BD patients and the control group, including the functional connectivity of the right ventral PCC. The PCC’s involvement in emotional regulation, when dysfunctional, may account for the exaggerated emotional states of those diagnosed with BD. The involvement of the DMN in patients with BD concerns numerous brain regions, including the PCC.
Decreased resting-state functional connectivity in the PCC has been shown in patients with BD. This disruption in the DMN can interfere with the brain area’s involvement in cognitive control. The PCC’s vital role in the DMN as a central hub has detrimental outcomes when negatively impacted through misregulation and disruption. This may suggest weakened integration between the areas involved in the DMN, having widespread, adverse outcomes throughout the brain. Through its connection with the AG and mPFC, the PCC now causes difficulties with integrating past experiences, emotional dysregulation, and disrupted social/self awareness. All may be attributed as key components in the experiences of individuals with BD.
Major Depressive Disorder and the DMN
Additionally, major depressive disorder (MDD) is a mood disorder that has direct implications with the DMN. MDD is described as a mental disorder diagnosed when patients exhibit a long-term low mood, lack of energy, feelings of worthlessness, and/or suicidal ideation (amongst other symptoms). Excessive self-focus, rumination, and negative feelings are associated with the role of dysfunction in the DMN when concerned with MDD.
The AG’s involvement in Theory of Mind can contribute to MDD. As described above, Theory of Mind involves our own understanding of another’s thoughts and actions and allows us to make predictions on how they may be feeling. However, the AG is not always correct. We may misinterpret another’s emotions and make negative predictions, this can lead to negative self/world schemas such as feelings of worthlessness based on these false pretenses. Involvement of the mPFC through the DMN can cause impairment in emotion, decision-making, social cognition, and self-referential thought through the mPFC’s connection with other brain areas. Behaviors resulting from impairment in these areas are seen in symptoms of those with MDD. Dysfunction of the DMN as a function of MDD implicates the above mentioned brain areas. When connections between these areas are distorted, our social and self perception becomes distorted as well.
The AG’s involvement with the PCC in the emotional regulation network was found to have a decreased correlation in patients with MDD versus a control group (no known disorder). This assumes these patients have abnormal emotional patterns. The decreased functional connectivity of each area aligns with the notion that dysfunction in components of the DMN is associated with mental disorders, particularly for our interest, mood disorders. The AG and PCC’s involvement in memory in conjunction with DMN function posits that these may be the underlying neural components of excessive thinking on negative episodic memories that is akin to MDD. Emotional dysregulation, as observed in patients with MDD, is in line with the consequences of dysfunction in the DMN resulting from stress.
What Students and Colleges Can do to Reduce Stress
As discussed, stress adversely affects our brain processes, such as the DMN, and therefore our behavior and decision making. This is particularly important for college students as they are faced with many potentially life-altering decisions. Examples being, what to major in, where to intern, what to do after college. Each of these decisions defines the course of an individual’s life and can be stress-inducing in and of themselves. So it is critical to understand that stress from other sources may interfere with these important decisions. That is why it is especially crucial for this population to have access to methods of stress reduction and coping mechanisms.
One example of the negative interplay between stress and the DMN is that stress can cause there to be problematic functioning of the DMN which then may cause the AG to inadequately appraise the emotions of others in alignment with its relation to Theory of Mind. This can be socially and emotionally detrimental and can also serve to increase one’s level of stress. This can negatively interfere with one’s self-referential thinking, a function of the mPFC in the DMN, which can also have detrimental effects on one’s academics and social life. All in all, if one’s stress levels are too high, it can seep into multiple facets of their life. So learning to cope with this stress is useful, especially to those managing the demands of college life.
Student/Self Level Stress Reduction
Although stress seems to be rampant, especially following the COVID pandemic, there are techniques aimed at mitigating and reducing its effects. Importantly, some techniques prove to have short term solutions while others prove to support a long-term reduction. A systematic review served as a guide to discussing and evaluating these various interventions. These techniques can be used in various facets of life, such as academic, social, and personal. All three are especially critical to maintain during college years.
It is suggested that self-guided stress management techniques are an effective stress reduction resource when compared to a control group. Specifically, mindful-based and psychological interventions were shown to positively impact an individual’s stress.
Mindfulness is the act of giving extra attention to the current moment, to be fully aware nonjudgmentally. Mindful-based interventions include meditation and self body scans to evaluate your feelings and pinpoint anything that seems awry. This method was found to significantly reduce distress, state anxiety, perceived stress, and depression. All aforementioned mental states have significant detrimental impacts on an individual’s behavior and decision making, as mentioned above. By mitigating these effects through mindfulness-based interventions, decreased stress could allow students to tackle the important decisions they are faced with in college.
Psychological interventions, specifically cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), have also been shown as an effective stress reducing technique. CBT is a form of talk therapy that is goal-oriented and aims at changing the way an individual thinks by challenging negative thought patterns. CBT may be used in response to rumination, a symptom of stress and inadequate DMN functioning, by breaking down negative preconceptions and thoughts, reframing them into something that is no longer harmful. It was found that psychological interventions, such as CBT, lead to reductions in stress, anxiety, depression, and general psychological distress. This data is especially important for college students struggling with stress as it can offer a solution to assist them in working through their emotions and decisions to determine what is right for them.
Exercise is also largely discussed as a stress management technique. It is described as a successful way to improve mental resilience which itself can serve as a coping mechanism in reducing academic stress. This would serve to relieve students of some academic pressure, decreasing their stress levels, which would support their healthy functioning and future decision making. In line with this, exercise also would serve to support healthy DMN functioning because of this decrease in stress and increase in mental resilience.
Through self-initiated stress mitigation techniques such as mindful-based interventions, psychological interventions, and exercise, students are able to gain control over something that may have been clouding their mind. Because of the adverse effects on the DMN associated with stress, it is especially important to ensure that students learn and implement these stress management techniques. Without proper coping mechanisms, especially at a milestone such as college, a student may suffer life-altering consequences by making incorrect decisions.
Institutional Level Stress Reduction
At an institutional level, colleges possess the ability to engage in various stress management techniques for their students to support their wellbeing. This includes proactive and reactive measures. Structural implementation of mental health support is especially important for college students to enable them to prosper and ensure they are able to undergo the proper exploration of career paths.
If students are more-stressed, they do not think about the future as well as students who are less-stressed. Some students only have so much ability to develop healthy coping strategies on their own. The stressful change in their way of life caused by college may cloud their judgement when determining what they should do to help themselves, leading to unhealthy coping mechanisms. Some students may turn to drugs, alcohol, or self-sabotaging behaviors resulting from their stress. So it is critical that students are met with mental health resources on college campuses to ensure their well-being, academic success, and overall quality of life so that they can get the most out of their college years.
Proactively, colleges can establish preventative measures to mitigate some of the stress that is experienced by college students. These interventions would allow students to develop behaviors and coping strategies to assist themselves. It is argued that these interventions could be implemented at an institutional or individual level. Institutionally, colleges could provide various resources to assist students in their mental wellness and success. Individually, colleges could provide instruction to students on various ways to develop habits that would support students such as time management skills.
By providing general study tips, colleges could enhance a student’s academic abilities and lessen stressors they may experience in regards to class materials. This has the ability to improve students’ confidence surrounding academics and diminish some negative impacts that academic stress may have on their social and emotional wellbeing. Additionally, colleges can equip students with test-taking strategies to lessen any test anxiety these students may experience. This is especially important because test-taking anxiety can interfere with DMN functioning, including memory recall, which can have detrimental effects on an individual’s readily available knowledge of information that they may be tested on. This interference could have negative impacts on the student’s grade through the clouded judgement they experienced as a result of this stress, so mitigating this with healthy habits may be beneficial.
A mostly reactive intervention that most colleges have implemented are counseling centers or mental health centers. These often assist students in addressing psychological and emotional difficulties they may be experiencing. Students have access to trained professionals prepared to address any issue they may be seeking treatment or assistance for. Counseling centers are a critical component of supporting the mental health of college students and can assist students in navigating societal and academic pressures through their adjustment to newfound independence. In conjunction with counseling centers, many colleges have 24/7 hotlines that support in various dimensions including suicide prevention and crisis support. This is especially critical to student’s wellbeing because of the increased risk of suicidal ideation and disorders following the start of college as discussed above. Colleges who invest in various mental health resources assist students in their development of resilience and coping skills, two facets necessary for their well being through college as well as long after college.
It is also argued that colleges, particularly health centers, should implement mobile app-based interventions. Implementation of mobile app-based interventions by institutions may prove to support college students largely and effectively as students almost always have their phone on them. If effective, the app could be a coping solution that students can literally “keep in their back pocket.” While more apps are being created to support the mental health of individuals, questions regarding the apps’ effectiveness come into question. However, it was found that a majority of students reported high satisfaction with the mode of intervention, cementing the effectiveness of the intervention. Most apps have been found to target stress, anxiety, and depression as many adopted CBT as a main intervention and mindfulness exercise. Overall, they have been shown to decrease the symptoms associated with each as results are promising in students’ mental health generally.
The data show decreased symptoms of stress following use of the apps which supports the notion that these interventions may have positive impacts on DMN functioning. Through supporting the healthy operation of the DMN, all processes linked with the network are more likely to run smoothly, ultimately contributing positively to an individual’s overall wellbeing. So, to have such convenient access to a coping strategy may be very useful for students in supporting their future decision-making and may serve to benefit them socially, emotionally, and academically. This intervention may be used as a proactive or reactive intervention for student stress.
Proper coping mechanisms are a necessary accessibility for students as they attempt to navigate the harsh accommodation to college life. Many institutions have resources available to students such as health centers and crisis hotlines. Additionally, the addition of stress management techniques and mobile app based interventions have been shown to contribute numerous benefits as well. Colleges arguably carry a responsibility to their students’ mental health as they may possess the resources, knowledge, and abilities to serve their students in this way. So to ensure students have their fullest ability to prosper from academic life, colleges should seek to provide mental health resources to support their student.
Conclusion
The transition to college life is often portrayed as an exciting milestone, yet for some it can be a deeply stressful experience. Although not all stress is bad, chronic or unmanageable stress may interfere with one’s health. In fact, stress-induced decreased performance and career exploration could reduce the benefits to going to college in the first place. Attempting to navigate the environmental changes that account for this transition can be a source of stress resulting from the significant shift in various aspects of life. This stress can have detrimental impacts on an individual’s social, emotional, and academic well being when this is supposed to be a time of self-discovery and future planning. Stress experience can cause impaired neurological functioning and ignite the onset of various psychological disorders, which is especially important regarding the default mode network.
The DMN constitutes a resting-state brain network consisting of various areas including but not limited to the posterior cingulate cortex, angular gyrus, and medial prefrontal cortex. Each area works together to support social cognition, self-reflection, and future planning through their involvement in navigating the switch between rest and active thinking, memory recall and consolidation, and emotional regulation. Interference with these processes has been shown to be detrimental to the well being of an individual and is correlated with various disorders and suicidal ideation.
To support students in this neurologically risky transition to college, colleges and students themselves can implement various interventions as coping mechanisms. These include long-term and short-term solutions as well as proactive and reactive methods. All have been shown to have positive outcomes on the health of students, and in some cases, may have even saved a life.
