The Science of Stress

General
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College years are a time when you are supposed to have a lot of fun and learn things. The truth is, a lot of students are really stressed out. Stress is not something that happens in your mind it is also related to the way your body works.

When you have a lot of work to do and exams are coming up your body activates something called the pituitary-adrenal axis, which releases a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is like a wake-up call for your body it helps you feel more alert. But if you have much cortisol for too long it can make it hard to remember things you will not be able to focus and you will have trouble sleeping.

Stress also affects the way the chemicals in your brain work. It changes the levels of serotonin and dopamine which are chemicals that help you feel good and make decisions. If you are stressed out for a time it can make you feel tired and weak.

The Student Experience

  • Academic Performance: When you have much cortisol it is hard to think clearly and do well on exams and group projects.

  • Physical Health: Stress makes you more likely to get sick which is why a lot of students get sick during finals week.

  • Mental Health: If you are stressed out all the time you are more likely to feel anxious or depressed.

There are things you can do to feel better when you are stressed out.

  • Exercise: When you exercise it helps lower the levels and makes you feel happier.
  • Meditation: These things help calm your body and reduce stress.
  • Balanced Diet: Eating foods that’re good for you like berries and leafy greens helps keep you from getting too stressed out.
  • Sleep: Getting sleep helps your brain work better and makes you feel more focused.

Understanding how stress works is important. Taking care of yourself is not something you should do if you feel like it it is something you have to do to stay healthy. Managing stress is not about feeling better it is, about keeping your brain and body from getting hurt. For college students being strong and able to handle things does not just come from being determined it also comes from knowing how stress works.

If stress is so powerful should colleges teach students how to manage stress much as they teach other subjects?

MBH/PS

2 Likes
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Very good post!

I think stress management and Mental Health sessions must be introduced to students right from their schooling because, it will be like preparing them for life and it’s ups & downs. And they will also feel comfortable to seek help later on in their life when they feel stressed or low if trained from schooling on how to manage it and communicate with the right people.

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Managing stress is more important than we realize because it quietly affects everything we do. Sometimes we stress so much about a test that we end up unable to focus or study properly, and that itself leads to poor performance. The real issue isn’t the test, it’s the stress. When we manage our time and plan things better, we can reduce that stress and actually perform the way we’re capable of.

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True managing stress and health issues is major problem many of us don’t speak about but it affects our over-all health and mindset.

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Yes definitely, management of stress should be taught from the teenage years itself.