Body Image and Academic Stress: Navigating Mental Health at NYU

As students living in an already tense world, anxiety is often heightened due to social and academic stress. For NYU students, this is certainly the case. Not only are we in a rigorous academic environment, but a city in which one must keep themselves safe. 

Although NYU is very different from traditional colleges, it is not immune to the urban legends of college life — one most commonly feared is the “freshman 15.” With negative implications based in diet culture regarding weight gain, the notion that students will inevitably gain weight during their first year of college is extremely daunting. This idea is present in many students’ minds during their freshman year, and certainly, at the forefront of mine. 

Eating disorders present themselves in various ways and are not limited to overeating or binging. In fact, behaviors like food restriction, skipping meals or obsessive calorie counting are often linked to a desire for control, especially during times of stress or anxiety. Although these patterns may be less visible, they can be equally harmful, underscoring the complexity and diversity of eating disorders beyond what is normally depicted.

Going to NYU barely recovered from anorexia, I was aware of this sentiment as soon as I stepped on campus. Now, almost two years recovered, I decided to ask fellow NYU students how they feel about their own relationships with their bodies, self image and stress on campus.

One 19 year-old female student in her sophomore year said, “The intense academic atmosphere puts a strain on students' mental health. The imposter syndrome here is significant, and once we start questioning our value as students, we start questioning our value as people. I know for me, when I feel insecure about my academic worth, I start spiraling and compare myself to others in every type of way, including my body image.”

Immediately, I understood this feeling. The adage that “comparison is the killer of happiness” reigns true, and more often than not, students are comparing themselves to their peers on the basis of their looks (and academic skills as well.)

Out of a 17 person anonymous survey that I conducted, a whopping 52.9% of NYU students answered “sometimes” to the following statement: “I find myself comparing myself and my body to others at NYU including my friends.” 17.6% of students answered with certainty that they do this “very often.”

In recovery, I learned that our relationships with our bodies are heavily influenced by how we speak to ourselves. It may sound simple, but it is incredibly important. We often talk to ourselves based on our surrounding environments and how we hear others speak about their own bodies. So when only 11.8% of the survey respondents said a definitive “no” to the statement, “I hear students/friends criticizing their own bodies,” alarm bells rang in my head. 

70.6% of students surveyed reported that they know at least one student that skips meals to maintain a specific body type.  

Another NYU student, this time an 18-year-old female freshman, happily confided in me that “In my experience, some NYU seminars have provided a space to reveal the stakeholders in the beauty standard and deconstruct the way I define beauty. I appreciate that NYU has the capacity to create that space, and [that] so many students are interested in disassembling those dangerous social standards.”

With mental health on a decline amongst younger generations, especially across campuses like NYU, this is a helpful reminder that nobody is ever as alone as they may think. If you know someone that is struggling, or if you are struggling, it is never too late to ask for and receive help. NYU has resources available to support its students. If that step feels too overwhelming, confiding in a loved one works wonders too.