By Jade Johnson
Stress is in every aspect of our lives. Whether it is at home, in a relationship or in school, stress can sometimes take over without you noticing.
Everyone has different triggers for stress. Work stress is at the top of the list, but when in you’re in college more factors start pouring in.
The number one stress for a college student is obviously school, especially during finals week, but most Georgia State students have jobs as well. While trying to balance a full work load of courses and working a substantial amount of hours, how can you balance it all without breaking down? School and work aren’t the only problems. Some students may have children; others are in relationships that alone can seem like a job.
If not careful with handling stress wisely, it can launch a poor impact to the body.
“With short term stress the heartbeat starts to speed up,” said Doctor Gunadeva M.D. at Gwinnett Clinic. “ Your breathing will increase rapidly, muscles will start to tense up and then sweating ensues.”
Good thing about short term stress is that it’s temporary and the body will quickly restore itself.
“Long term stress is what everyone should be afraid of because of its severity,” said Gunadeva. “This type of stress can cause depression, high blood pressure, heart disease and can most definitely lead to a heart attack.”
There are numerous ways to manage stress in life without having to deal with the long term effects it could bring:
- Positive thinking: The body and mind need positive thinking and energy. One way to start to think positively is to start telling yourself, “I can do this” or “today, I’m going to have a nice day”. The more you think positively, you better your chances of relieving stress.
- Treat yourself: Take a break from your hectic life and treat yourself with the things you’ve wanted to try or do. You can go shopping, see a movie, or hang out with people who make you laugh. Life can’t always be about being controlled by what stress you out.
- When you feel like things are getting a little too hectic take a 5 minute break, and just breathe. Focus on your deep breathing in you’ll notice the stress slowly going away.
- Avoid the unhealthy ways of coping with stress like smoking, over eating, drinking too much, and sleeping too much. Running away from your problems with these cop outs will only take the stress away temporarily, but will also put your health in more jeopardy.
By using the tips above, see if you notice your stress slowly decreasing. It is best to try and take care of yourself during stressful times before anything.
