Stress What Does Stress Actually Term Paper

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The weather too plays an important part in creating stress in an individual, especially when the individual happens to be already stressed due to some reason or the other. Another main source of stress may be physiological, like for example, any type of illness that the student is or had suffered from, any sort of injuries in his person, insufficient sleep, and inadequate nutrition, and also in some cases, the hormonal fluctuations that are a natural occurrence for this particular age group of individuals. The very thought processes of the college student may also become a major stress inducer in him. For example, when he expects perfectionism in everything that he does, but finds that he is not able to achieve this with ease, then he automatically becomes stressed. In a similar manner, when the student thinks too many negative thoughts and is quite pessimistic in his thinking, then too he becomes stressed. In addition to all this, there are certain social stressors that induce stress. These may be financial problems and constraints that he may be experiencing at the present time, or the demands that he course is making on him, or the death of a loved one, or the culmination of any social event. (Stress and College Students)

However, though it is simple enough to tackle all these forms of stressors and stresses, it is important to understand the fact that if these stresses are left to escalate, then the student may have to face psychological problems as a result, and his college work will suffer. if, however, others learn to recognize the various symptoms of stress, then it would be easier to deal with it and treat it before it escalates into an unforeseen problem. Some forms of stress affect only the person who is stressed, while other forms may affect all the others around him, like for example, when the student is in a relationship, and then his loved one would be able to point it out to him. The obvious physical symptoms of stress are the following, and many individuals may have experienced all or some of these symptoms at some time or the other during their lives. Muscular tension, an elevated blood pressure, a frequent cold or a cough, constant indigestion, and ulcers in a mild form, permanent fatigue and also sleeplessness, tiredness, frequent and constant headaches, as well as backaches.

The stressed out college student may experience most of these symptoms during the course of his college life. Apart from all the physical symptoms that are caused by stress, there are certain emotional or psychological symptoms that are also caused by stress. These are that the student may experience unprecedented anger and a high temper, with absolutely no real provocation, or he may be constantly irritable and easily irritated, or he may experience a mild or a severe depression, or he may feel that he is overwhelmed by the activities and by the course or by the events in the college. He may also exhibit mood swings, and theses may become dangerous to himself as well as to those around him. Stress also causes certain cognitive symptoms like for example, forgetfulness, extreme difficulty in concentrating, and a constant recurrence of all sorts of unwanted and repetitive thoughts that he feels that he cannot adequately control. (Stress and College Students)

The trick lies in effective control and, if possible, the elimination of the factors that are causing the stress in the college student. The first step to take would be to improve the health of the student, since it is an undeniable fact that the more healthy individuals who make it a point to eat well, sleep well, and also indulge in a moderate amount of physical exercises would be better equipped at any time to deal with stress factors than those student who do not eat or sleep well, and have no time for exercise. It is these students who generally feel overwhelmed by the events of the college and all its activities, and therefore feel more stressed out than others. It is also this type of student, who feels unable to cope, and often relapses into a mild or at times a severe depression. These students need to be taught the best and most effective way with which to deal with stress by paying more attention to his...

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The trick is to find and achieve the right balance between the various factors that make up a college student's life, that are: sleep, food, relaxation and recreational activities, work, school and course work, and so on. There are some other students who find that they are constantly rushed, and they find themselves running against the clock most of the time, trying to keep up with all the numerous activities that college life has to offer them.
Finally, they feel that they have absolutely no time at all to catch up, and find that they are now lagging behind because of the lack of time. Teaching them the essentials of 'time management' techniques, however, can effectively help these students, and this would help them to cope better with college life. If the student were also encouraged to share his problems with others and discuss them in some detail with them, then a part of his problem would be solved. This is because it is in fact extremely easy to get virtually stuck or completely caught up in a problem so that the student's view becomes very narrow and constrained, and then he would inevitably lose his correct perspective, and then finally, he would feel that a small and minute failure is actually a great insurmountable problem. When the problem is discussed with a strong friend or a teacher or anybody, then it is possible that he would be able to see it for what it actually is a small problem that can be easily sorted out. The student would also feel that he has now gained a sense of control, and he can now take whatever action he desires to take to sort it out. (Stress and College Students)

It is indeed possible to reduce and control stress to a large extent, provided the student is aware of the problem and seeks advice or remedies for it. It must be remembered that stress is capable of affecting an individual in a holistic manner, which in other words means that it can affect the person physically, mentally, emotionally, as well as spiritually. Sleeplessness may lead to not only poor performance in college but also to a real vulnerability to road accidents, and can cause anxiety and depression and a total lack of concentration, which also leads to poor performance in his studies and school work. Stress may also cause the student to effectively abandon healthy and good habits such as eating well; sleeping well, and exercising well, and this in turn will definitely lead to other types of health problems. In the long run, these will affect the student severely. Heart problems, high blood pressure, arthritis, menstrual problems in girls, and constant headaches and backaches are all classic symptoms of stress, and in the long run, it can affect the student very badly. (Stress: University of North Dakota)

Short-term stress can be dealt with effectively by teaching time management methods that would help him balance time with the number of activities that he would have to perform in the college. He can also learn how to modify the environment in which he is functioning, so that he would find it easier to work. Where long-term stress is concerned, the college student would do better if he were to seek and find his own stress level, so that he would be not only able to manage his time and activities effectively, but would also be able to choose his own goals and see to it that he achieves them. He would also be able to make his own decisions so that they would suit his purposes better, and this would also help him to keep his expectations and ideals at a more realistic level instead of expecting something higher than what he can hope to achieve and then feeling depressed about it. This would ensure that the student would be able to accept the things that he cannot hope to change and live with them so that he is not affected by the stress factor in the issue. The student would also be prepared to actually anticipate stressful situations and be well prepared for them well in advance so that when the stress were to occur, he would deal with it in the manner in which he saw fit. This means that he would live in the present reality rather than in some high expectations from the past.…

Sources Used in Documents:

References

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Archer, James; Carroll, Christina. Stress and College Students. University of Florida Counseling Center. Retrieved at http://www.counsel.ufl.edu/self-Help/studentStress.asp. Accessed on 18 February, 2005

Dedicated to Advancing Our Understanding of: The Role of Stress in Health and Illness

The Nature and Importance of Mind-Body Relationships Our Inherent. The American Institute of Stress. Retrieved at http://www.stress.org/. Accessed on 18 February, 2005
Definition of Stress on the Web. Retrieved at http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&lr=&oi=defmore&q=define:stressAccessed on 18 February, 2005
Fines, Barbara Glesner. Law School and Stress. 1999. University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law. Retrieved at http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/profiles/glesnerfines/bgf-strs.htm. Accessed on 18 February, 2005
Landsbergis, Paul a; Schurman, Susan J; Israel, Barbara a; Schnall, Peter L; Hugentobler, Margrit K; Cahill, Janet; Baker, Dean. Job Stress and Heart Disease: Evidence and Strategies for Prevention. Summer 1993. Scientific Solutions. Retrieved at http://www.workhealth.org/prevention/prjscvd.html. Accessed on 18 February, 2005
Renew - Stress on the Brain. The Franklin Institute Online. Retrieved at http://www.fi.edu/brain/stress.htm. Accessed on 18 February, 2005
Stoppler, Melissa C. Who can help you manage stress? Retrieved at http://stress.about.com/cs/psychotherapy/a/aa110602.htm. Accessed on 18 February, 2005
Stress and Work. Retrieved at http://www.worksafereps.org.nz/hazards/files/stress.pdf. Accessed on 18 February, 2005
Stress Management Interventions. Retrieved at http://psychology.dictonarypage.co.uk/stress-management+interventions/. Accessed on 18 February, 2005
Stress. Retrieved at http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/peerh/stress/relax.html. Accessed on 18 February, 2005
Stress. University of North Dakota. Retrieved at http://undstudenthealth.com/stress.htm. Accessed on 18 February, 2005


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