COVID-19 has shocked the bedrock of society, impacting both human life and the economy. Accompanying this shock has been the psychological distress inflicted onto the general population as a result of the emotion strain stemming from isolation/quarantine policies, being sick with COVID-19, dealing with COVID-19 losses, and post-COVID syndrome and its effect on quality of life. The psychological distress has been experienced by the general population, but compared to middle age (30-50) and older adults (>50 years of age), it has been young adults (18-30 years old) who have been more psychologically affected (Glowacz & Schmits, 2020). Psychological distress, specifically anxiety and depression, has been exacerbated by feelings of uncertainty, fear of illness, losing loved ones, and fear of post-COVID syndrome. Post-COVID syndrome, as with other post-viral syndromes such as post viral SARS involve lingering symptoms such as myalgic encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and loss of motivation (Underhill, 2015). In addition to these symptoms, patients suffering from post-COVID syndrome have also presented brain inflammation and damaged brain blood vessels (Meinhardt et al., 2021), Endotheliitis (Varga et al., 2020), CV abnormalities and changes in glucose metabolism (Williams et al., 2020). CV abnormalities and changes in glucose metabolism are connected to chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease respectively. These chronic illnesses are then associated with higher risk for depression as a result of the stress induced by the symptoms and their impact on quality of life (NIMH, 2021). Further monitoring, and research will be important to gauge ultimate physiological and psychological impact of COVID-19.

Stress is common, and potentially adverse, for individuals transitioning to college. The purpose of the present study was to describe and understand first year college students’ experiences of stress. Specifically, the goals of this study were twofold: (1) to describe the types of stressors experienced by students transitioning into college and (2) to understand the predictors of students’ experiences of the different forms of stressors. Ecological Momentary Assessments were collected over the course of the first semester of the participants’ (N = 194, 56% female) first semester of college. Stressors were coded into 8 categories: academic, global interpersonal (family, peer, other interpersonal), obligational, health, and finances. It was found that (aim 1) academic stressors were endorsed the most frequently, followed by global interpersonal stressors and obligational stressors. Results also showed that (aim 2) males reported more frequent academic stressors than females, and females reported more frequent interpersonal stressors than males. In addition, higher GPA was positively related to obligational stressors and family support was positively correlated with academic stress. These findings suggest a need for increased awareness of stressors that students within differing contexts experience in a university setting.

Young adults and college-aged people are the age group that encounters the most stress because this age group is trying to grasp what they want to do for the rest of their lives. They will go to college to figure out what they want to pursue, go to college to graduate school, or go straight into their careers for the rest of their lives. Choosing a life pathway right out of high school can be very stressful. College comes with so much change, from where you live to the amount of coursework, and it is a very demanding atmosphere. The central principle of free-flowing dance is to release energy, which is a great way to relinquish stress, especially for young adults. Free-flowing dance is a very loosely defined concept and can be grouped with free-flowing movement, but the objective of free-flow is to release energy through unrestrained movements. This paper will explore what stress is, what causes stress, the concept of free- flowing dance, and how it decreases stress.