Anxiety | Stress | Fear | Depression

Stress

College life can be very stressful. To students currently attending college, however, the process is often stressful and frustrating. The competition for grades, the need to perform, relationships, fear of AIDS, career choice, and many other aspects of the college environment can cause stress.

Before condemning stress outright, we need to understand that stress is only harmful when it is excessive. Much of the stress that we all experience is helpful and stimulating. The challenges of life tend to be stressful and an attempt to avoid stress completely would lead to a rather boring existence. The problem comes when you experience too much stress.

Although some stress reactions are part of deeper and more serious emotional problems, many are not, and can be handled with relatively simple counseling and stress-management techniques.

What is stress?

When youre stressed, you feel changes in your body and your mind. Your heart beats faster, your blood pressure goes up, and your face may get flushed. Your muscles might tighten up, or you may feel anxious. You may feel rushed and confused, or forget things. You may feel sick to your stomach. You might be crabby, and get into arguments with your family and friends.

What causes stress in our lives?

We live in an interesting, but also hectic and challenging world. Teens can have lots of sources of stress, including:

Long term stress can contribute to such health problems as:

These chronic problems are really your bodys way of telling you "Hey! Im under way to much stress over here somethings got to give!"

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Source and Symptoms of Stress

There are four primary sources of stress:

  1. The Environment-examples include noise, pollution, traffic and crowding, and the weather.
  2. Physiological-examples include illness, injuries, hormonal fluctuations, and inadequate sleep or nutrition.
  3. Your Thoughts-the way you think affects how you respond. Negative self-talk, catastrophizing, and perfectionism all contribute to increased stress.
  4. Social Stressors-examples include financial problems, work demands, social events, and losing a loved one.

Symptoms of stress appear in many forms. Some symptoms only impact the person who is directly experiencing stress, while other symptoms may have an impact on our relationships with others. Perhaps you experience some of the examples below when your stress levels are elevated.

Emotional symptoms:

Cognitive symptoms:

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Develop a Balanced Lifestyle

Stress reactions to various situations are also affected by your overall level of health. Someone who is always feeling overwhelmed, eats poorly, and doesn't get enough sleep (a description of many students) usually has a limited ability to cope with stressful events. You need to pay attention to your own well being. The right balance of sleep, food, exercise, work, school, and recreation is crucial.

Some people are in a constant state of trying to catch up. They find themselves rushing and hurrying from one activity to another, always racing with the clock and never getting on top of things. Part of this problem, for many students, is not being well organized. Effective time management can help.

Gain Perspective by Discussing Problems

It is easy to get caught up in a problem or a narrow view of something you are doing, and to lose perspective and feel that a failure or roadblock is a catastrophe. Discussing your problems with a trusted, empathic friend can allow you to gain new perspective and can allow you to move out of what might seem like an isolated and negative internal world. The act of verbalizing your concerns and putting them together will often help give you a sense of control.

Specific Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation techniques are extremely valuable tools in stress management. Most of the techniques like meditation, self-hypnosis, and deep muscle relaxation work in a similar fashion. They make it possible for you to spend a short period of time in a state of profound relaxation. In this state both the body and the mind are at rest and the outside world is screened out for a period of time. The practice of one of these techniques on a regular basis can provide a wonderfully calming and relaxing feeling that seems to have a lasting effect for many people. Your energy level and ability to cope with the external world are replenished. Practitioners and researchers have reported many positive life effects from the regular practice of one of these techniques.

If you don't have an opportunity to get instruction, just practice sitting quietly for 15 minutes, with no interruptions. Let yourself relax by focusing on something peaceful - a beautiful scene at the beach or in the mountains, for example. Sometimes it is your negative thoughts or worries that create tension. You can practice "thought stopping techniques" and learn how to use positive self-talk to cope with stress. Even simple interruption can help. Stop and take a purposeful 10-minute break. Go for a walk, breathe deeply, call a friend, put on some favorite music. Keep your sense of humor! Remember, you can talk with a counselor to learn more about how to develop these stress-reducing skills.

Clarify Your Values and Develop a Sense of Life Meaning

Stress is often caused by general unhappiness and a sense of aimlessness or lack of purpose. People sometimes wind up making choices and living life styles that really don't fit them. A student may be studying accounting when he or she really wants to be an artist, or he or she may have a wide circle of friends, but not really have the kind of intimate relationships that feel fulfilling.

Clarifying your values and deciding what you really want out of your life, can help you feel better about yourself and have that sense of satisfaction and centeredness that helps you deal with the stresses of life. This process is, of course, not easy. Most of us are constantly growing and developing our sense of self and our ideas about what we want and how we want to live. A sense of spirituality can help with this. You might find this with an organized religion or it might be a more personal, individual process. It may involve a sense of oneness with nature, or it may be related to the deep satisfaction gained from volunteer work that really helps someone. Although each of us must develop our own sense of well being and spirituality, it does help to talk about these issues with others, as a way of clarifying and challenging our own ideas and beliefs.

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Stress: A Plan of Action

  1. Sleep! Getting at least eight hours of sleep per night ensures you will be able to concentrate while studying and taking your exams. It also allows your body and mind to recuperate from a hard day. The same areas that are involved in learning new tasks while awake are still busily processing information while asleep. You will be able to think through problems more logically instead of acting mostly on impulse.
  2. Eat! Well-balanced meals, that is. Food fuels your body. It also fuels your mind. You cant expect to perform at your best if you havent given your brain all the nutrients it needs to function! Keeping blood sugar balanced maintains your energy level so you can do what you need to. Also, avoid caffeine, white sugar, and salt. These can cause anxiety and fluid retention, which can increase nervous tension and blood pressure. And no, leftover pizza for three days straight is NOT a good idea.
  3. Exercise! Are these tips starting to sound familiar yet? Maintaining overall health is one of the most important ways to combat stress. And exercise lets you sweat out whatever is bothering you. When focusing on a workout, you can allow yourself to forget about exams and studying for a while. When you come back to studying, your mind will be rested and your body recharged. Endorphins released during exercise help you maintain a calmer and more elevated mood.
  4. Breathe! This tip may seem pretty self explanatory. But in reality, its something students often forget to do. When all your responsibilities seem to be backing you into a corner, just take a deep breath and remember that you can do it. Yes, college is a lot of hard work sometimes. But, if you just take a step back from everything and clear your mind, youre less likely to be overwhelmed.
  5. Prioritize! Set goals. Write them down. Break up reading and studying so that youre not up at 5 a.m. the day of the exam trying to finish just one more chapter. Plus, when you set a time frame for yourself, you can actually gauge your progress. Quiz yourself and see where your strong points are and where you need to spend more time. When you sit down with six hours until the exam and twelve chapters to read, its much more difficult to really absorb the information.
  6. Organize! Its EXTREMELY difficult to study your notes if you cant find them! Develop a system that works for you, and stick to it. Date your notes. Put assignments in a folder. Dont just let all your papers float around your backpack and pile up on your desk. The next time you need to look something up, you wont be able to find it!

If you find yourself getting noticeably stressed every day, you should take some steps to (1) lessen the number of stressors in your life, and (2) treat your body and mind to some stress-reduction techniques.

How can I lower my stress level?

Here are some ideas for different activities you can do to lower your stress. Just pick a couple that look interesting to you, and try them out. If these ideas help you de-stress, you can include them in your daily or weekly routine. If not, you can try others on the list, or come up with a list of your own. Talk to your parents or another trusted adult about how they de-stress. They might have some good ideas you can try out.

Stress Reduction Activities

These can wait

These are pressing

Do these TODAY

 

 

If you see that theres just too much to do TODAY, youll have to cut down on some activities to make your schedule more manageable.

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Time Management
"What goals do you want to achieve - and what's most important to you"

Determine your mission - set aside time to think deeply and write about your life and goals. Writing such a 'mission statement' is a good way to firm up your opinions about what's essential to you in life: what you'd like to be and what you'd like to accomplish. Write to inspire yourself, not to impress others.

Understand where you spend your time - yes, it's list-making time. Think how you could best prioritize and itemize the many pressures of your life. Can you categorize your life in neat 'important', 'quite important' and 'unimportant' boxes? Or would a more complex chart suit your life: 'urgent and important', 'important but not urgent', 'urgent but not important' and 'neither urgent nor important' perhaps? Think about your life with clarity and the priorities will clarify themselves. And try not to trivialize quiet times, sleep and other (seemingly) unproductive moments - they're essential for your health.

Review your roles - like actors, we play many parts. A clear set of roles will help you create order and balance in your life. Your roles grow out of and contribute to the fulfillment of your personal mission.

Identify goals - now it's time to apply your insight to the next seven days. Begin by identifying a goal for the coming week in each role. These goals don't necessarily have to be an activity; they can be as simple as determining an area on which you want to concentrate, such as being more patient with your children. Limit yourself - two goals for each role should be achievable.

Organize your week - using a week-at-a-glance diary or drawing up your own chart, plan the week ahead. Don't feel that your can't deviate from this, however. If you plan an activity and something prevents you from completing it, just adjust your schedule and try to fit it in elsewhere. If you can't do this without compromising your other priorities, make it the first thing you plan for next week.

Evaluate your week - at the end of the first week, take a realistic look at how it went. Where were the big successes? And which scheduling details were less successful? Learn from the last seven days and identify turning points, those times when you consciously decided to prioritize one activity over another. Do your goals need revision?

Enjoy success - no schedule absolutely positively guarantees instant success, but remember that you're in control. Set aside time every week to re-evaluate your goals and roles, so you can close the gap between what's most important to you and how you spend your time. Spending 30 minutes in this way will reap immediate benefits - inner peace, a balanced life and increased productivity. Finally, celebrate your successes.

What should I do if Im dealing with extreme stress?

Sometimes the stressors in a persons life become very serious. Some examples of an extreme stressor are: being in a serious accident; being the victim of a crime or of sexual abuse; experiencing violence in your family life, including daily fighting, yelling, and hitting. These serious stressors can have lasting effects on the way your body and mind handle stress, and this can set you up for mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here are some resources for coping with more extreme stress:

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