Image: Erin Krotz, a senior at the Carlson School, poses for a picture in the Northrup Mall at the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus on April 4, 2022. She discussed the impacts that generalized anxiety disorder has on her life. (Eitan Grad)
Erin Krotz is a senior at the Carlson School of Management. She is majoring in accounting and minoring in business law. She belongs to The Wake Magazine as well as Student Legal Services.
She was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder in 2018.
“It’s hard because I’ve gotten so used to being a student that it doesn’t affect me as much anymore, but I definitely have a hard time with class participation, stuff like that. I have a hard time reaching out to professors. Those kinds of things.
I’m an anxious person, so I have backup plans for everything. Whatever I do outside of school always takes a bit longer because I’m like, ‘Well, I’ll do this but I need to have a backup plan for that.’
I’ve used the Carlson-specific counselor before, and she was really nice. I really liked her, and that was a good experience for me. A lot of people have used her before. I know you only get so many sessions for free as a student, but I liked it.
I do a lot of self care kind of stuff. So, if I’ve had a pretty anxious day or something, I make sure to take time to go work out, which helps a lot for me, or sit and read a book or just do something that’s not related to the stresses of school and work and all of that stuff.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview conducted by Eitan Grad.