"Will They Like Me?" Dealing With Dating Anxiety in College |
“Dr. Morris, I’ve never dated anyone before. How do I even start? I get nervous when I want to ask someone out.”
College students have expressed dating anxiety to me many times in my work as a psychiatrist over the last 30 years. Dating anxiety is normal when going to college – students feel vulnerable as they get to know people in a new place. They worry about being liked, and then if someone they like does not reciprocate, their mood can plummet. I’ll never forget my feelings of anxiety waiting for a fellow student to ask me out, only to have him ask my roommate out instead!
Dating has never been stress-free, but has dating anxiety increased in the last decade? Overall levels of anxiety have increased by 65%, with 33% of university students reporting high levels of anxiety in 2024-2025 versus 20% in 2014-2015. In my clinical experience, I have observed an overall increase in dating and relationship anxiety as well.
The COVID pandemic only added fuel to the growing levels of anxiety worldwide. I noticed more social anxiety as people emerged from the isolation of the COVID years. Children and adolescents fell behind in social skills development during COVID, according to a 2025 Gallup poll of parents.........