STUDENT GUIDE - MANAGING STRESS
Students' Guide to Managing Stress
This paper will address three aspects of stress a student may encounter. Those aspects are types of stress, symptoms of stress and managing stress. In the types of stress we cover environmental, physiological and social stressors. In looking at symptoms of stress we cover physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms. We conclude, by discussing managing stress where we cover time management, financial management and life management.
Students' Guide to Managing Stress
In today’s corporate world it is advantageous, if not required, for an individual to have some type of degree. Many companies require degrees for advancement and in some cases, require degrees before they will consider you as a perspective employee. Because corporate America is pushing for a degreed workforce, many Americans have found themselves back in the classroom. Most of those people have found that becoming a student can be extremely stressful. Whether that stress is environmental, physiological, social, or a combination of all three is hard to determine. One thing is certain; that not a day goes by that a student does not encounter some form of stress.
Students that decide to attend any form of post education will encounter some form of stress. Our research looked at three major factors of stress. The first is environmental stress. Finding a quiet location where you could relax, read a homework assignment, or even write a paper is rare. Noise, pollution, traffic, crowding, and even the weather (Archer & Carroll, 2003) can play major roles in your study locations. These are examples of the environment's role in stress.
The next type of stress is physiological. Physiological stress includes illness, injuries, hormonal fluctuations, inadequate sleep and nutrition (Archer & Carroll, 2003). The literature indicates that the average age of a college student is increasing. A majority of them have a family to take care of, a full time job, and a full workload of homework. Under these conditions, it is impossible to get a full eight hours of sleep. Taking care of one's body is priority number one. One must take care of themselves by eating right and getting enough sleep in order to avoid the factors of physiological stress.
Finally yet importantly, social stressors...
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...tress-reducing techniques on a daily basis. Some ways include meditation, exercise, proper diet, restful sleep and allocating personal time. Others may find relief or benefit in religious events or activities. These are a few suggestions that contribute positively in relieving life’s stress.
So as we can see, stress is a critical factor in our daily lives. Students easily succumb to stress. Although odds may appear overwhelming, we can face them by applying these stress management techniques in our daily life. As a result, we have a better chance at a successful academic future and a solid foundation of obtaining our career goals.
References
James Archer, Ph.D., Christina Carroll, Ph.D. (2003). Jaquelyn Liss Resnick, Ph.D. editor Stress and College Students. Gainesville. University of Florida
Burkett, Larry. The Financial Planning Workbook, A Family Budgeting Guide. Chicago: Moody Press, 1990
Budgeting/Financial information for College Students Website: www.crown.org (visited site 3-1-04, 3-14-04 & 3-20-04)
Virginia Tech Website: www.ucc.vt.edu/lunch/Time Management.htm (visited site on 3-1-04 & 3-7-04), Harden burg Health Center
College students have do deal with moving away from home, intense pressure to keep their GPA high, working towards career goals, final exams, maintaining a social life, and the costs of college, all of which is a recipe for stress. (Reifman, 2011)
College is a new and dynamic environment. However, it also contains many challenges that student have to deal with. One of the challenges is dealing with stress. Among all of the new experiences, learning and growing opportunities available in a college environment, many may lead to unhealthy levels of stress which hinder students' abilities to socialize and to achieve their academic goals.
Everybody has at least one thing in common. Can you guess what it is? If you guessed, heartbreak, you’re right, but that’s not the answer I’m looking for. The correct answer is stress. Everyone has stress in his or her life at one point or another. It’s one of many inevitable parts of life. Whether it’s busting out a research paper for Psychology at the last minute, expecting your first child to be born, to making sure you’re up in time to catch the Saturday morning cartoons, it’s clearly evident that everyone goes through stress. The real question is, how is stress handled in our society? A person is defined by how they handle the stressors in their lives and how they overcome stressful moments. This paper will explore the aspects of stress management; hoping to help others in their times of stress.
...emotional demands of college. A student may lose balance when weighed down by the pressures of academics, social life, and work. These students need more help from their college to help themselves overcome the emotional demands. The schools must have programs that helps students become more prepared for college and after graduation. These students must think independently, act more independently, and navigate the world more independently. The college must find ways to help students help motivate themselves. Be able to succeed in life releases stress.
Stress is no new phenomenon. It’s been around as long as man and has captivated scholars and physicians alike. With the growing demand for degrees in the professional world comes the growth of the number of college students. The relationship between stress and college students has become the subject of on-going research. Several studies show that stress in college students is increasing with time and the authors of those studies are attributing this to an increased number of students. Other research seems to indicate that it isn’t necessarily the stress that is increasing but the awareness of it. Increased awareness of stress, and its unique toll on individuals, allows colleges and students to recognize areas of concern and work together to address, manage and control it.
4 Giancola, J.K., Grawitch, M.J., and Borchert, D. (2009). Dealing with the stress of college: A
Studies have shown that many college students are not able to handle the stress while in school, which hinders the ability for the brain to act in a normal way (Shahrokh and Hales, 2003). If a person is unable to deal with the stress that one is being faced with, it will have negative consequences in terms of causing several psychological disorders (Canby et al., 2014). Entering post-secondary education is a completely new environment for students, as it can be tough for many to adjust to the new surroundings. There are many factors that cause stress when students enter college, as it can include having the ability to deal with lower marks (Struthers et al., 2000) and having to create a new social life. Once and if a social life is established, it can cause more stress among students because it can lead into peer pressure that results in risky behavior. In particular, peer pressure can cause alcoholism or drug abuse (Seiffge-Krenke, 1990) or it can also cause unprotected sex. Not only does stress revolve around peer-pressure, but it can also be caused by headaches and lack of energy. If a student is constantly staying up late to finish assignments or to study, it can cause headaches from the lack of sleep; thus causing stress. With all the given factors, it can be hard to overcome these external factors which can ultimately lead to stress among
Stress is an important problem faced by many college students, especially first year students, and it can have some large impacts on college freshmen. For example, according to Hirsch and Keniston (1970), about half of first year students do not graduate from college due to dropping out (p. 1-20). Also, David Leonhardt (2009) agrees that the United States excels at putting “teenagers in college, but only half of students who enroll end up with a bachelor’s degree” (p. 1). In addition, the level of stress seems to increase each year. For instance, the National Health Ministries (2006) claim that many college students have become “more overwhelmed and stressed” than the student generation of the last fifteen years (p. 2). Also, the percentage of first year students feeling stressed is greater than thirty percent (National Health Ministries 2006). If the problem of stress is not resolved properly, th...
There is not one college student who has not experienced stress in at least one of their classes. The constant reminder of failing an assignment or not finishing one is enough to cause stress in anybody. The big issue though is how students overcome this stress. A survey funded by the Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development in Europe was conducted to determine how students are coping with school stress. This survey was performed in the United States and Switzerland. It was discovered that “An estimated 35–50% of college and university students drop out prematurely due to insufficient coping skills under chronic stress, while 85% of students receiving a psychiatric diagnosis withdraw from college/university prior to the completion of their education” (Mohr et al.). College students are finding help to their massive amounts of stress by ending their college career all together. Some students are even developing other mental illnesses from not getting help with their stress like anxiety, depression, and even suicide (Sharma and Tripathi). These students are so unstable that they cannot even function properly because of their stress and what it has caused them. Families are taking their loved ones out of college because the student needs significant help. The amount of stress that a college student experiences is unreal. This stress does not have an exact source but instead multiple sources leading to various consequences like taking a life or developing a mental
One of the sources of stress to students is because of their concerns towards their academic performance. Most new college students experience stress when they realize that their courses are much more demanding and fast paced than were their high school classes. Even some students may experience a great deal of stress when they are too much pressurized to achieve the grade goals that they have set for themselves or that their families may expect them to achieve.
Everyone deals with stress at some point in his or her life. Most people deal with it daily. As defined in the book called Principles and Labs for Fitness and Wellness, stress is, “The mental, emotional, and physiological response of the body to any situation that is new, threatening, frightening, or exciting” (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2012). This stress is caused by a stressor, which is also known as “a stress-causing event” (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2012). Stressors can take all different forms, from moving to a new town, having a baby, or even writing a paper (Boyd, Wood, & Wood, 2011). One major stressor in life can be going to college. If not coped with properly, these stressors can leave a person with too much stress that could end up harming them mentally and physically, such as developing an illness (Boyd, Wood, & Wood, 2011). There are several ways to cope with stress. Some healthy ways to cope with stress would be practicing emotion-focused coping, building time-management techniques, and practicing meditation.
Stress presents itself in different ways. Some students may experience changes in sleep and eating patterns, increased frequency of headaches, increased levels of frustration and anger, being more irritable than normal, recurring colds and minor illnesses, frequent muscle aches and tightness, being more disorganized than usual, greater sense of persistent time pressure and increased difficulty in getting things done. Stressed college students may express multiple symptoms at once, which may render them incapable of completing assignments or even doing daily tasks. It is important to learn how to recognize when stress levels are out of control. The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on students. They get used to it and it starts to feels familiar. Students do not notice how much it is affecting them, even as it takes a heavy toll. The signs and symptoms of stress overload can be almost anything. Stress affects the mind, body, and behavior in many ways, ...
Driscoll, E. (2013) Stress in College: What Causes it and How to Combat it, FOX Business, 73(12)
Previous research studies show that one of the fields where stress has consistent influence is on school setting. It is no wonder then that many studies conducted were dedicated on finding the impact of stress to the academic performance of students. Studies show that one of the factors that hinder students in performing well in their academics are because of the stressors they encounter day by day (Akgun, S., & Ciarrochi, J., 2003).
Stress is something that everyone has to deal with in life, whether it is good or bad stress. Stress management techniques are a great way to deal with stress. Some of the stress management techniques that I learned from this course are prioritization, scheduling, and execution. Using these techniques has effectively helped me deal with my own stress. When it comes to dealing with stress I still have many strengths and weaknesses that I will explain. Some stressors I have in my life that I will discuss are psychointrapersonal, social, life events, and daily hassles. Next, I will give my opinion on my post-course survey, and compare and contrast it to my pre-course survey scores. Finally, I will explain my last goals for this stress management course.