I walked across Central Campus the other day wondering why I haven’t lost my mind. Midterms are flying at me right in the middle of crunch time for the student organizations I’m involved with.

Beyond my subjective reality, studies show that mental problems among college students are at an all-time high. Since 1994, students’ problems have become increasingly more complex, Sterry A. Benton found in a study published in the February 2001 issue of “Professional Psychology: Research and Practice.” The problem is aggravated by the fact that universities like ours experience budget cuts that may limit counseling services, and most health insurance plans do not include mental health in their coverage.

The result: Students get left out in the cold — literally — especially during winter when depression peaks among people in the prime college ages of 18 to 30.

More and more I find myself reflecting on those annoying childhood days when my dad, a physician assistant in psychiatry, would ask one (or more) too many questions during what I viewed as one of his exciting opportunities to overanalyze me. Although there may be some validity to the overanalyis perspective, I find myself reflecting on the principles he laid out during those formative years as I try to negotiate adulthood and interact with peers who are negotiating the same. While searching the face of a friend who seems lost, I’m asking the same questions and trying to provide the same guidance that he did. And it’s more than just mere imitation after years of conditioning; it’s the expression of a framework for healthy thinking and thus fruitful living. It’s the practice of basic mental management skills needed to negotiate life.

Faced with the challenges of love, relationships, handling friendships, turning in homework, studying for midterms, dealing with parents or being a good employee, some people get lost in the shuffle. Although I certainly do not have it all figured out, nor could I qualify myself as an expert in the field, I do remember a few tricks that help me keep my head in the game. I’m sure they’ll sound like no-brainers, but, oh, how easily we forget to:

• Think in clear, straight lines. Even I get tired of hearing the word “logical” and the reminder to “be more logical.” Yet my days go a lot smoother when I try to think and clearly process situations based on all the information available to me.

• Be clear about your objectives. I know it’s hard in a world that expects you to fake it like everyone else on TV (oh, you didn’t know we’re on the big screen?). Yet despite the artificialities that we’ve created, human beings are still the same: we operate best in the state of reality. Defining what I really want — out of life, out of love, out of college — helps me best deal with myself and others. Knowing my expected outcomes helps to determine my plan of action. Hiding my true objectives only creates more problems, more lies in everyone’s reality, which brings me to my next point:

• Seek truth. So now that I am clear about what I truly want, I have to seek a clear understanding of others. Investigating the reality of a situation only equips you with more resources to successfully negotiate that reality. Relegate lies to the world of entertainment, not real life. (You know that “reality TV” has nothing to do with reality, right?).

• Give ourselves time to rejuvinate. I think I struggle most with this one, since the schedule of a typical college student doesn’t seem to allow for “taking time” to do anything but forget what you need to be doing. But this one is crucial. My day goes best when I take the time to reward myself for small victories. On the other hand, looking for too many distractions from my true feelings only causes me to skip the time that it takes to deal with those feelings in the healthy way that prepares me for new adventures and challenges.

I realize that the exploitative American system works best when fewer people have the skills to successfully negotiate real life, that way people who are more prepared can get ahead at the expense of those who are lost. But I console my capitalist critics with the knowledge that most of the people who are available for exploitation have already, been groomed not to read this or much of anything else. I do hope I’ve helped someone, though, even if it’s just me this time.