“How To Deal With Stress” By Natalie Moser
3 06 2008
Stress seems to be more prevalent than alcohol on college campuses today. Although, stress and college have always gone hand in hand, what is it exactly that is causing it and how can students deal?
“My job stresses me out the most, I have to work over 20 hours a week because I have to pay for school and on top of that it’s hard taking 18 credit hours and trying to work and being in a sorority,” said Sara Taylor, a Junior Communications major.
Ava Khoshbin, a Freshman HDFS major, said that as far as what stresses her out it would be “The future, basically, school because it’s going to lead me to my future and if I fail then it’s like I’m going to fail my future.”
These stressful situations are shared among many college students and several of them deal with their stress through unsafe and unhealthy behaviors, such as drugs and alcohol, as a way of an escape. Even though, they may not realize it at the time that these behaviors could result in an unfortunate life changing experience.
How is it that students can release their stress but in a healthy way?
Suggestions that were made by students for other students included things such as, “Talking to a friend or someone close that can help them cope,” said Tony Losh, a Junior Business major.
Khoshbin, 19 from Lake Oswego said “Write down everything you need to do and take it on one by one, that’s the only thing that works for me.”
“Working out for sure, I should do it but I don’t, maybe that’s why I am so stressed all the time,” said Taylor, 20 from Lake Oswego.
According to an article, “Teens and Stress: Who Has Time For It?,” from the American Academy of Family Physicians, they suggest first recognizing that you are in fact stressed. Tips on how to tell are signs of:
- Feeling depressed, edgy, guilty, tired
- Having headaches, stomachaches, trouble sleeping
- Laughing or crying for no reason
- Blaming others for bad things that happen to you
- Only seeing the down side of a situation
- Feeling like things that you used to enjoy aren’t fun or are a burden
- Resenting other people or your responsibilities
Other useful tips on how to fight stress, provided by the American Academy of Family Physicians, include:
- Eating well-balanced meals on a regular basis
- Drinking less caffeine
- Getting enough sleep
- Exercising on a regular basis
- Making a list of things that are causing your stress
- Take control of what you can
- Give yourself a break
- Don’t commit yourself to things you can’t do or don’t want to do
- Find someone to talk to
By incorporating some or all of these tips into student’s daily lives they could significantly reduce the amount of college stress.
Although, “It’s obviously easier said than done,” said Whitney King, a Sophomore Business major.
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Stress and Students Today, By Natalie Moser
3 06 2008
It’s no secret that college students today face an immense amount of stress and pressure from anything ranging from college coursework to financial burdens to even health issues. The interesting part about it all is how college students deal with these stresses and are they in a constructive or destructive way?
“I deal with stress by partying,” said Casey Knuth, a Junior Business major, “I’m a very live life by the moment kind of guy.”
Knuth, age 21 from Tualatin, also added “My number one stressor is waking up in the morning and all I wanna do is get drunk but I can’t because I know I have to go to class.”
On the other hand, Natalie Swartzendruber, a Sophomore Political Science major, said “I take “me” time, where I’ll go and do something I enjoy, watch a movie, get a chai, go for a drive, read my Bible, or call my mom.”
Both students deal with their stress in two completely different ways but it seems as though, according to a poll from the Associated Press, “Stress Pains Many in College,” by Alan Fram and Trevor Tompson, that many students are tending to resort to drugs and alcohol rather than seeking less damaging options, “More than a quarter of the students sometimes think they should cut down on drinking or going out. A third say they sometimes want to use drugs or alcohol to relax.”
Many students attribute stress as a leading cause to the amount of alcohol ingested by college students today. Shelby Johnson, a Sophomore getting an International Degree in Spanish, said “That’s [stress] half the reason I think people drink as much as they do, like Tuesday nights, most people look ahead at all the stuff they have to do the rest of the week and get drunk.”
Students also talked about how social situations can act as a stressor causing them to consume alcohol or consume more alcohol than they intended to. “If you know your going into a stressful situation you drink more,” said Johnson, age 20 from Portland.
Yet still darker, although just as important are the instances of suicide that occur among college students due to stress. “About one in six say they have friends who in the past year have discussed committing suicide, and about one in 10 say they have seriously considered it themselves. Friends have actually tried to end their lives in that time, one in 10 say,” said Fram and Tompson.
What has caused this push toward such a huge extreme? “I think we have a lot more pressure put on our generation to be so much smarter and to make a good living,” said Courtney Schild, a Freshman Art major.
“Our society has higher expectations on what you should be able to do and your accomplishments,” said Johnson.
Schild, age 19 from Portland said “We hear so much from the media that everyone has nice things so we think that’s the norm so that’s what we strive to achieve.”
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Process Memo
3 06 2008
Overall, my experience writing both of my articles on stress was good. People seemed to be receptive to my questions and friendly while I interviewed them. Like always, I had the most trouble simply sitting down and writing my two articles but once I did things just started flowing pretty well. I’m excited about my stories actually because I wrote them as a kind of pair. One is about what students resort to when they are stressed and the other is about how to deal with stress. I’m really excited about how our group project has turned out and I hope that the class will be as excited about it as I am.
