Stress Among College Students
Leaving home for the first time and going away for school can be very difficult for some people. In many cases for college freshmen this is their first time being away from their home and parents. Many times they get home sick and want to isolate themselves. They have to get into a new routine of going to school, and change can be very difficult. It is definitely hard to get into the swing of college. They have to navigate through classes in a new format while living away from all the comforts of parents. A college student’s life usually consists of attending classes, long hours of studying, working at a job (sometimes), and having a social life. Some students work at a job or study harder than others, but they are all trying to get degrees so maybe one day they will have meaningful and significant lives. It is a constant struggle for everyone who is trying desperately to make him or herself into a success. And every college student wants to be involved with something in order to further their education, or just have fun. There are lots of new opportunities out there. The struggle consists of demands on time, financial pressures, parental pressure and conflicts, interpersonal conflicts, managing freedom, peer and academic pressure and the transitional period to a new academic environment (Stanford University 4). All of these factors combined can cause emotional disturbances and one of the most common is stress.
Stress is what you feel when you are worried or uncomfortable about something. This worry in your mind can make your body feel bad. You may feel angry, frustrated, scared, or afraid. These feeling can also lead to you having a stomachache or a headache. When you're stressed you may not feel like sleeping or eating. You also may feel cranky or have trouble paying attention at school and remembering things. Having a little stress can be good sometimes, but when you’re in college that is defiantly something you want to keep under control. Another reason for stress is the financial strain a person can experience when trying to progress in school. Learning to budget money is one of the most realistic lessons of attending college. This is one more way a student may feel vulnerable. Financial pressure is the number one reason why students drop out. A college student may become distracted with work in order to live comfo...
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... distress is providing students with a feeling of control over their education, information about what to expect, and feedback regarding what can be done to improve their performance. Students who do not feel helpless will adopt their own coping strategies. Students shouldn’t let their college years distress you. Recognize situations that may cause stress, develop effective ways to manage stress and seek help if you need it.
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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)
Along the same lines, stress can overpower a student because of the new lifestyle that a college student has to adapt and maintain. Many students can risk physical, mental, and depression while being stress, I believe that stress could cause depression because while the student may be in poverty it can add up from the stress of school. They’re in pressure to be good enough to have a better and brighter future for their family members. Some schools may provide programs to help with depression for example, counseling/therapy or probably ask for advice from a close friend that can relate to poverty and 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.
Goldman, Cristin S., and Eugene H. Wong. "Stress and the College Student." Education 117.4 (1997): 604-10. Gale Group. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
4 Giancola, J.K., Grawitch, M.J., and Borchert, D. (2009). Dealing with the stress of college: A
What is stress? Stress is the term used to describe the physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses to events that appraised as threating or challenging. Stress can be shown in many ways. The physical part of stress can include the symptoms of fatigue, sleeping problems, frequent colds, and even chest pains with nausea. People undergoing stress may behave differently, pacing back and forth eating too much crying a lot smoking and drinking more physically putting your hands on someone. Emotionally, people under stress experience anxiety, depression, fear and irritability as well as frustration and anger. For the part of mental stress you may experience problems in concentration memory, and decision making and people often lose their sense of humor. A lot of people experience stress on a daily basis and college students are often most likely to face situations and events that require that requires them to make changes and adapt their behavior. Assigned readings, papers, studying for tests, juggling, Jobs, car problems, relationships, and dealing with deadlines are all...
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...
Over the past few decades, there has been a dramatic shift in college experience and job opportunities: College tuition has spiked, students have to work more to pay for their education, there are new fields of study and discoveries that hadn’t existed previously, and there are new standards in order to be deemed successful in each respective field. There is no doubt that college age students, roughly aged 18-22, would start to feel this pressure as it coincides with other constant pressures such as moving out, being financially independent, and having a new social freedom. However, for some people it can prove to be too much. It was found in Brougham’s (2009) study that both college men and women are very likely to use avoidance and self-punishment
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
There are numerous stress factors college students encounter while striving to complete their educational goals. Their grades may be affected by daily life situation stressors that accumulate throughout the semester. Students’ financial needs, lack of social support, family drama, and other various circumstances can all mount up to a tremendous amount of stress and may result in poor grades and lack of collected credits. In fact, stress continues to be a constant issue in people’s lives, (Holmes & Rahe, 1967; Viner, 1999) and these “life demands stressors” are unavoidable and can be overwhelming which directly or indirectly relate to individuals underperforming because of psychological and physiological symptoms (Holmes & Rahe, 1967; Joseph, Mynard, & Mayall, 2000). There are several researches that show how the stress factors college students come across during their college experience can affect their mental and physical well-being which correlates to their academic performance.
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.
College brings many changes to a young adolescent. Moving away from parents and being on your own is the biggest and sometimes scariest step. This change for college students can sometimes be very dramatic and can often lead to depression. A column written by Michael Kerr (2012) reported that one out of every four-college student suffers from some sort of mental illness, depression being the most common. It also stated that 44 percent of American college students report having symptoms of depression. College is supposed to be a time of growth, learning and self-discovery. What factors play a contributing role to the rates of depression found in college students? Research by Nyer and colleagues (2013) has suggested that sleep disturbances and anxiety contribute to depression-like symptoms in students. Another study conducted by Xueting, Hong, Bin and Taisheng (2013) found that students who were trying to reach perfect grades in their academics found themselves falling short of expectations which triggered symptoms of depression. Varied distractions, academic or financial difficulties, substance abuse, lack of sleep and unstable friendships are additional risk factors for depression (Xueting, 2013). If not left untreated, students often resort to suicide as a way out of the depression. (Wilcox, 2013)
Driscoll, Emily. “Stress in College: What Causes it and How to Combat it.” Online posting. 31
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)