Originally posted on May 3, 2004 @ 12:12 am
This post is for my friends who are in college. It’s kind of long but well worth the read. It was written by Celine Ohanians. The title is just what my subject line says: Dealing With College Stress…
College life is full of new experiences and challenges — and lots of anxieties. Whether you’re a first-time freshman or a graduating senior, college can be the best of times and the worst of times. Making new friends and being independent is the best part. On the other hand, pulling “all-nighters” and adjusting to a new lifestyle away from the comfort of home can be the worst.
All of this, in turn, creates stress. No two people are exactly alike, and neither is their stress nor the way they respond to it.
What is Stress?
Why is it that no matter what we do, we’re almost always stressed out? Well, stress is an unavoidable consequence of life. Without stress, there would be no life.
According to the American Institute of Stress (AIS), 75 to 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints or disorders.
There are two kinds of stress: eustress and distress. Eustress keeps us alert; it motivates us to face challenges and drives us to solve problems. Distress results when our bodies overreact to events; this can cause health problems.
“Stress is anything that takes a psychological or physical toll on you. It’s not necessarily a bad thing,” says Tammy Coder Mikinski, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist based in Kansas City, who was also the director of the Counseling Center at Rockhurst University in Kansas City for the past eight years.
Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects due to stress, according to AIS. Ear and sinus infections, stomach and back pains, headaches and tension are all common stress-related health problems. “For some college students, stress makes them sick, and their immune system gets run down,” Mikinski says.
How to Overcome Stress
So why do we stress out so much during college? For one thing, most of us aren’t managing our time properly. We’re having trouble prioritizing our daily tasks, and we don’t take time to relax. Not to mention the fact that many college students work, which adds another dimension of responsibility and stress.
Here are several strategies that can help you cope with stressful situations, according to the University of South Florida’s Counseling Center for Human Development:
Learn to manage your time wisely. Make and follow a daily schedule that includes time for classes, reading and writing assignments, exam preparation (don’t procrastinate!), healthy meals, exercise and a job.
Set priorities and make the most of your opportunities as a student. Write down the most important items and concentrate on those at the top of your list. Writing ideas down helps crystallize your thinking and reinforce important goals.
Learn to say “no” to some of the demands for your time. Protect your own best interests by refusing to allow yourself to become overstressed by taking on every request or opportunity that comes your way.
Make careful planning a basic part of your academic routine. In a student’s hectic world, poor planning often leads to crisis situations. And crisis almost always leads to stress.
Balancing the Demands of College Life
“Students need to balance the social demands of college and the academic demands,” Mikinski says. Many freshmen, for example, party a lot during the first part of the semester and “when the rubber hits the road about October with midterms, they can really feel stress,” she says. “Then if you add something like a relationship breakup to that, it could be particularly stressful.”
Socializing and being surrounded by positive people is also an important aspect of overcoming stress. “It helps to have real supportive people that you like a lot in your life who want you to succeed, especially during finals,” Mikinski says. “So it’s not a good time to talk to that old boyfriend who brings you down.”
Quality Time to Yourself
“You need to find time for yourself to kind of be centered and reflect on your life and what you want it to be like,” Mikinski says. “It’s important to set aside time every day, even if it’s for five to ten minutes, for a quiet reflection, it could be at the beginning or at the end of the day,” she adds.
In addition, you need at least six hours of sleep each night. You’ll feel more alert and motivated the next morning, and you don’t have to drag yourself from class to class. “It’s important to stay stimulated, challenged and not bored — that’s going to help reduce stress,” Mikinski concludes.
After all, college students have a lot of stress; there’s no denying it. But college is what you make of it. If you stay focused and balance your life, you’ll feel much more relaxed and healthier when it’s time to wear your cap and gown. Now, that’s an achievement you’ve earned for life!