6.5 Stress ¹

As a student, you’re probably plenty familiar with the experience of stress, a condition characterized by symptoms of physical or emotional tension. Stress can hit you when you least expect it. If you’re a college student, it may feel like stress is a persistent fact of life. While everyone experiences stress at times, a prolonged bout of it can affect your health and ability to cope with life. That’s why social support and self-care are important. They can help you keep your problems in perspective and work through them in a healthy way.

Sometimes stress can be good. Stress gives us motivation to get our to do lists done and put in effort on activities and assignments. It can also help you develop skills needed to manage potentially challenging situations in life. Stress becomes harmful when it is severe enough to make you feel overwhelmed and out of control. Strong emotions like fear, sadness, or anger are normal, as long as they are temporary and don’t interfere with daily activities. If these emotions last for weeks or cause other problems in your life, it may be necessary to seek advice from a professional for assistance.

Signs and Effects of Stress

Physical or emotional tension are often signs of stress. They can be reactions to a situation that causes you to feel threatened or anxious. The following are all common symptoms of stress:

It’s not only unpleasant to live with the tension and symptoms of ongoing stress; it’s actually harmful to your body.. Chronic stress can impair your immune system and disrupt almost all of your body’s processes, leading to increased risk of numerous health problems, including anxiety and depression, digestive problems, heart disease, sleep problems, weight gain, and memory and concentration impairments. It’s vital for your physical and mental wellbeing to learn healthy ways of coping with stressors.

Ways of Managing Stress

The best strategy for managing stress is by taking care of yourself. Take some time to identify all the things causing you stress, then see if you notice patterns. It can be easy to say that you are stressed because you are busy or that you have a big deadline looming. But what about that is stressful? Is it a fear of failure? Or that you have overcommitted yourself and don’t want to cancel on a friend who needs you? Understanding the exact cause of your stress, especially if you experience it often, is crucial for working through it.

Feeling overwhelmed and short on time is a common experience for college students. Time management and organization can be very helpful in mitigating stress. Work on prioritizing and scheduling your commitments. This will help you feel in better control of your life, which, in turn, will mean less stress. Sitting down and creating a plan can also help you realize that accomplishing everything is more possible than you assumed.

Slow down and cut out distractions for a while. Take a break from your phone and the mindless activities you can get sucked into on the internet. When you feel stressed, it’s easy to isolate yourself and spend hours watching Netflix or scrolling through social media. Instead, practice a healthy self-care activity, like cooking, crafting, or playing an instrument or sport you enjoy.

There are times when processing your emotions with a trusted individual can ease your stress. Seek help from a friend, family member, partner, counselor, doctor, or clergy person. Having a sympathetic listening ear and talking about your problems and stress really can lighten the burden. Resist the impulse to bottle up your emotions because you believe you will be a bother. Stay connected, make time to enjoy being with classmates, friends, and family, and try to schedule study breaks that you can take with other people.

Taking care of your physical health has an enormous impact on your stress level. Maintaining a healthy routine that involves prioritizing yourself is not selfish but necessary to live your best life. Make sure you are eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, exercising regularly, and getting plenty of sleep. Try a relaxation technique, such as meditation, yoga, or treating yourself to a massage. Avoid unhealthy coping mechanisms, like drugs, alcohol, fast food, retail therapy, or spending time with people who are negative influences. They may seem to be a temporary fix to feel better, but in the long run they can create more problems and add to your stress—instead of taking it away.

The following video features a progressive muscle relaxation meditation for you to try. There are many many others available on YouTube and elsewhere.

Video: Progressive Muscle Relaxation Meditation

If the self-care techniques listed above aren’t enough and stress is seriously interfering with your studies or life, don’t be afraid to get help. The student health center and counselors are both good resources.

Citations

1. Stress. Provided by: Lumen Learning. Located at: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-collegesuccess-lumen1/chapter/stress/. License: CC BY: Attribution.
2. Dillon, Dave. Blueprint for Success in College and Career. OER Commons. https://press.rebus.community/blueprint2/. CC BY 4.0.