Stress Management

Article By Ilyse Goldberg, Assistant Director of the University Counseling Center

The end of the semester can be a very stressful time for students. Finals, securing summer employment, graduation, and transitioning to living back at home with parents are some of the issues that college students face at the close of the spring semester. During times such as this, the word “stress” gets thrown around often and tends to have a negative connotation. It is important to remember that stress is a natural reaction to life experience, and that we need a little stress to stay alert and to motivate us. In fact, some stressors can actually be good for us depending on what the situation is, how long it lasts, and how we perceive it. Many individuals feel if they are not experiencing an excessive amount of stress about an important event they will not perform well. However this is not the case. A moderate amount of stress can actually motivate us to do something such as study for an upcoming final exam. However, too much stress becomes distracting and decreases our ability to sit down and focus. Too little stress, on the other hand, can make us lackadaisical about the exam preparation process as a whole and cause us to neglect taking the time to study at all. We need some stress to be able to perform at optimal levels but problems occur when we are experiencing too much or chronic stress.

When trying to assess whether or not we are experiencing too much stress we need to be able to identify what are our particular stressors are and how they are affecting us. In addition, being mindful of our physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioral reactions to stress helps us recognize when we need to employ coping mechanisms that can alleviate our stress levels. Here are some tips on identifying signs of stress and techniques used to manage stress.

Signs of stress:

• Physical: Headaches, stomachaches, sleep disturbance, high blood pressure and rapid heartbeat
• Emotional: Persistent irritability, persistent anxiety, sadness or depression and increased cynicism
• Thoughts: as “This is horrible/unbearable,” “I'm not good enough,” “I'm going to flunk out of school,” or “I'm going to go crazy”
• Behaviors: Include social withdrawal from friends and family and procrastination

Strategies for Managing Stress:

• Work off stress - Regular exercise may reduce depression, enhance self-esteem, and relieve anxiety. Exercise also has cardiovascular benefits; it lowers blood cholesterol levels, blood pressure, can help maintain a healthy weight, and reduces stress.
• Sleep adequately - Lack of sleep can lessen your ability to deal with stress by making you more irritable. Most people need at least 7-8 hours of sleep out of every 24 hours. If stress repeatedly prevents you from sleeping, you should inform your doctor.
• Eat well - Unhealthy or irregular eating habits interfere with your ability to cope with stress. Aim for regular meals with lots of nutrients. Moderate your use of caffeine (coffee, energy drinks) which can disrupt your appetite and sleep. Incorporate a multivitamin into your daily regimen.
• Take one thing at a time - It is self-defeating to try to tackle all your tasks at once. Instead, set priorities and work on the most urgent.
• Learn to practice a relaxation technique
  a) Focus on your breathing: Count to 5 with each inhalation and count to 5 with each exhalation. Repeat 10 times.
  b) Shoulder rotation: Rotate your shoulders back, down and around, first one way, then the other. Rotate one shoulder, then the other. Now do both at the same time.
• Talk about your worries - It helps to share worries with someone you trust and respect. This may be a friend, family member, clergy person, teacher, or counselor. Sometimes another person can help you see a new side to the problem and thus, a new solution.

Counselors at the University Counseling Center are available to meet with students on an individual basis or in a group therapy setting for a variety of issues including stress and anxiety. In order to make an appointment please contact the UCC at 504-865-3835.