Student Stress

A major issue affecting many people all over the world is stress. Stress can be felt early in life and travels throughout older age. Stress can be shown through physical signs such as changes in appetite, sleep, inability to concentrate, hair loss, and face indicators like wrinkles or acne. One community that is susceptible to stress are those who attend college or universities. The realization that an exam is right around the corner, can cause a stressful moment to the mind and can be soon shown through the physicality. 

A person with frequent stress may become accustomed with the feeling, and may not think stress is that big of an issue. It is important to become aware of the dangers of stress. Negative consequences can come out of these frequent stressors. Being informed of its serious consequences is the best prevention to its harmful effects. A medical doctor, Hans Selye, said that in his research on stress he saw that when the body is confronted with a stressor, the organs get affected. If the stress persists for a period of time, negative consequences can result such as diseases. Perception also influences stress because what one person perceives as stressful; another person can see it as a challenge to overcome. Students in a southern American university, saw that their stress was stemming from academics and personal problems. From a list of coping strategies, the top three strategies that were effective in reducing stress among students were taking a break, talking with others, and exercising (Sarros and Densten, 1989). From this article one can see that stress is an uncomfortable sensation that students experience. When they experience stress, they find ways that help release the stress. The article also mentioned that some students go through great lengths to decrease those feelings. Many males reported that they will start using drugs to get rid of stress.

When students deal with stress, some of them don't take the issue seriously. In 2012, a research was conducted on students in a Canadian university. Reports showed that 27% of the students felt they were stressed. Research implicated that those students who sought for help eventually got treated. Those who did not seek help had a few common reasons. Some thought they should deal with it on their own, others believed it was a normal issue to have, and others didn’t take the issue seriously or said they could not find time to get treated. The study also concluded that stress affected students more commonly through the form of anxiety and or depression (Regehr, Glancy, & Pitts, 2013). Not only are students being affected with this problem, but they will not take the first step in self help by acknowledging it is a serious issue.

On the other hand, there are some students that accept that stress is a problem. These students try to handle the issue by several ways. There are a few common methods that work for many people. A study showed that interventions had a goal of helping students with stress through various techniques instead of simply relying on counseling methods. In this study, there were participants who were majoring in nursing, law, and other majors, in which most said they experienced anxiety. The study consisted of 1800 students. More females than males were analyzed. The students were divided into groups, in which each group would be treated with different stress reducing methods. One group was treated through an arts method, where music was heard. Another was put in control by psycho education interventions, where the students used a computer program to read stories directed towards reducing stress. Lastly, there was a cognitive, behavioral, and mindful intervention where breathing techniques were used and dysfunctional thoughts were being assessed. Out of these three studies, the technique that seemed to decrease the most anxiety and stress was the cognitive, behavioral, and mindfulness method (Regehr, Glancy, & Pitts, 2013). This method where stress was most decreased, simply used the recognition of the dysfunctional thoughts. These thoughts were acknowledged, assessed, and replaced with healthy thoughts through the use of breathing and positivity. 

The social issue of stress has affected me in different ways. Entering the university, there were a couple of factors I began to worry and stress about. For one, commuting to school was a major change I had to deal with. Taking early classes and living far from school became an issue; which meant I had to sleep early and wake up early. Second, the amount of school work was another issue. Being enrolled in several classes, I had to learn to manage my time well by finishing my homework early in the day to be able to do the rest of my daily activities of living. I chose this issue because stress is something that affects many students. It is important to become aware of how impactful this issue can be. Just because this issue hasn't majorly affecting the people that experience it; it doesn't mean it should be taken lightly. There are many harmful effects that it can do to the body. And to prevent these consequences from happening to students, students should try and learn ways to manage stress. Harmful diseases may arise such as strokes that can be detrimental and irreversible to fix on the nerves.

A few university students were interviewed who have felt stress in the following section. 

“Stress is a common factor among many students today. It is very stressful to keep up with school, work, family, health, and have a social life at the same time. One way I manage my stress is by managing my time. I like to make a schedule for myself which helps me stay on top of all my work.” -Natel Salahyan

“I usually feel stressed out when I have lots of things to get done.Some of the common symptoms that I get due to stress include headaches, dizziness, as well as tense muscles. The things I try to do to manage my stress include taking breaks in between studies, going out for a walk or run to clear my mind a bit, and listening to relaxing music. By doing one or two of these things, I am able to relieve and release my stress a bit more.” -Berenice Santiago

“College years tend to be very stressful. There are countless lectures to attend and even more notes that we have to write down. Exams are also abundant and force students to spend hours studying for them. A students life is even more stressful if they hold a part time job as well. I spent 6 years attending college (3 community/ 3 CSUF) which is similar to saying I lived through 6 stressful years. Getting through them was a relief and an important accomplishment for me and my family.” -Sal Estrada

References

Regehr, Glancy, & Pitts. (2013). Interventions to reduce stress in university students: A review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 148(1), 1-11.

Sarros, J., & Densten, I. (1989). Undergraduate Student Stress and Coping Strategies. Higher Education Research & Development, 8(1), 47-57.