Stress and anxiety are common aspects of life for college students
Tim Charette
Staff Writer
Stress and anxiety. These are things that affect students and adults on a daily basis. From the homework load, to managing a job, to staying up late for hours studying for that test, stress intrudes our lives in many different ways.
In fact in 2008, the Anxiety/Depression Association of America surveyed students who had stress almost everyday, and 80% said “yes” or “sometimes.”
For the people that find themselves with a lot of anxiety or stress almost every day, they may be asking themselves, “How can I handle/reduce it?”
There are thousands of ways to eliminate the stress in your life, but it all really comes down to what works best for you. The first way that many people reduce this stress is by working out.
They are so many different ways that people like to work out, and like I said before, it all really comes down to what kind of workout routine works best for you.
Running, and lifting weights are obvious choices, but another activity that has come to light recently is kickboxing.
It is a great way to get all that anger and frustration after a bad day out. Punching and kicking a punching bag is an amazing outlet for reducing stress.
Then there is of course the great feeling you get after a good workout.
Working out is not the only way to relieve stress, and working out is not for everybody. Another great way to reduce that stress is just taking a “you” day.
School is usually the main point of stress and or anxiety and sometimes after having loads of homework and extracurricular activities, you just need to take a personal day.
You can use this personal day to get caught up on your school work, plan out your week, and you can do so while in your sweatpants and sweatshirt in the comfort of your own home.
Of course, going to school is important as well. When you take too many personal days, you skip out on schoolwork and important lectures, and this only will increase your stress and anxiety in the long run. The key here is balance.
Know that when you take a personal day, that you should take advantage of it, and that you should not use it (as tempting as it is) to sit in your bed and watch Netflix all day.
Another way that can help is making sure you are staying organized. Buy a planner or anything that keeps track of the month and days and write down everything you need to do for a certain week.
When you know when that stressful project is due, the stress that comes along with thinking about tackling it can be reduced, as you can now have a clear vision in your mind of when you need to be done with it, and you can plan accordingly.
Making time for studying, writing reports, and even just some relaxing time can go a long way when it comes to keeping yourself sane.
Of course, these are just three ideas that could help if you find yourself dealing with stress/anxiety. There are so many more out there but like I said , it all comes down to what makes you comfortable and what works best for you.
When all else fails, taking a deep breath is one quick solution that can definitely be beneficial as well.
Tim Charette is a Comment staff writer.
