It's that time of year again. Most high school and college students have gone through their commencement ceremonies. The students have been excited about receiving their degrees and moving on to the next step in their lives. Those next steps might be further education or employment. Relief from the immediate stressors of school work, deadlines, exams, and grades will be welcomed by many graduates. However, what comes next? Once the traditional stressors are gone, to what new level of normality does the graduate adjust?

It is worthwhile to remember that commencement (graduation) is an academic and social custom that symbolizes a rite of passage. Commencement imposes your own expectation to achieve and society's expectation that you will perform well in the next phase, whether work or continuing education. Fear of failure and inherent shame are several of the consequences if the graduate does not meet the internal or external definitions of success post-commencement.

Another consequence of commencement for many graduates is stress. In fact, a new term has been coined for a constellation of symptoms describing the anxiety and stress associated with the fear of the unknown inherent in commencement. That term is Post Commencement Stress Disorder (PCSD). PCSD was discussed in some detail in an interesting article by Dr. Bernard Luskin, LMFT, in Psychology Today several years ago in 2012. PCSD is a condition emerging from a diagnosis of symptoms affecting new graduates facing the task of choosing, changing or pursuing a career. Completing a degree brings both opportunity and insecurity to many new graduates as they pursue new plans, goals, and careers.

Symptoms of PCSD can include:

Feelings you are not in control of your life
Feeling a lack of support after commencement
Feelings of failure if you can not find work in your area after a reasonable search time
Generalized anxiety and tension
Sleep problems
Irritability
Avoidance of normal activities

Graduation can be a stressful time although meant to be a happy time for graduates. However, whatever the causes of PCSD, there are several steps you can take to help facilitate the transition:

Make a plan. Take a look at what you want the first 3-6 months post graduation to be and implement a plan. It does not matter what you choose, from an internship to a vacation. The idea is to have a plan of action that helps you organize your time and reduce the anxiety and worry which accompany the feeling of "floating" in your life.

Keep your priorities in perspective. When it comes to the anxiety over next steps after graduation, remember that you are not alone. There are millions of new graduates each year and the job outlook has improved over the last few years. It is always important to keep things in perspective as you organize for the struggles of the demands of the next step in your life. Whether you have graduated from college and go on to employment or from high school and are going to college, consider the following. Create a budget and that will help you lessen the fear of mismanaging your money and can help develop new financial targets and goals. If your ideal job doesn't occur, consider working in areas where you can accumulate reasonable experience to help make that ideal situation happen.

Confront the future. As mentioned earlier when discussing make a plan, take action as to what point you want to achieve over the next several months. It is critical to take some action. If you focus on a job or school program related to your field of study or interests, it is better than taking no action. Taking no action will result in the symptoms noted above. Self esteem and self worth are related to behaviors. Generate positive action and positive feelings will follow. Avoid negative self talk at all costs. Thinking that "Things will never work out for me" or similar statements will do more to keep you stuck in PCSD than almost anything else.

As always, stress is a choice we make by how we look at, plan for, and react to the situations in our lives. You can avoid PCSD. I wish you well on your journey.

Dr. Paul Longobardi

For more information on these and related topics, please see my website at www.successandmindset.com