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There’s no debating it: College kids are stressed. In fact, they’re really stressed. A recent New York Times survey revealed that emotional health among college freshman has dropped to the lowest level in over 25 years. So what’s to blame for stress pushing happiness out of its rightful place? In truth, a number of factors may be involved, including rising tuition costs and the decreasing number of job opportunities available to graduates. Because of the economic recession, much of the college-age population is realizing that its options are limited.
They fear that they will not achieve the same level of success as their parents, and they are subject to an immense amount of pressure to succeed in a tough job market by pushing themselves to their absolute limits. They realize that a college degree no longer guarantees a job that pays above minimum wage, so many students are gravitating towards Master’s and Ph.D. programs, even if they do not have the desire to continue their education. These and other societal factors contribute significantly to students’ stress, but there’s good news for college students: Although some degree of stress is inevitable, there are some concrete steps you can take to managing your stress levels.
Exercise consistently.
In addition to its many other benefits, exercise is a very easy way to help you manage your stress in college. Not only does exercise improve your well-being by boosting your self-esteem and acting as a distraction from college’s many stressors, but aerobic activity also has an intense effect on your brain’s chemistry. Physical activity has been shown to reduce stress hormones, such as cortisol, while simultaneously increasing your brain’s supply of endorphins (the body’s “feel good” chemicals). Milder forms of exercise that serve to help your body and mind act in sync can also help you control stress. These types of exercise, such as yoga and Tai Chi, teach you how to be more in touch with your physical actions and emotional responses. They also help introduce meditation into your routine, which has been scientifically proven to significantly reduce stress levels and improve overall well-being, thereby elongating life.
Plan ahead.
One of the biggest stressors among college students is their workload. However, the amount of work you’re assigned in college is not designed to be unbearable, and, if you resist procrastination, it probably won’t be. Delegating the appropriate amount of time needed to complete your school work will help you reduce your stress levels by allowing you to remain calm in the face of looming deadlines knowing that your work is already well underway. Learning how to manage your time and prioritize school work also helps to improve your grades, which eliminates the common stressor of a low GPA.
Communicate.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by stress or other unpleasant emotions, be sure to communicate your situation to the people who will be affected by it. Talking to your parents about the difficult time you’re having can be very beneficial because it will encourage them to place less pressure on you. If they have been pushing you to succeed, they may not have realized how crushing these good intentions can be when coupled with all the other stressors of college life. Explaining your feelings could reverse their tendency to be overly demanding.
Communicating your situation to your professors (when appropriate) and your roommates and friends can benefit you for a number of reasons. First, sharing your feelings with friends and roommates not only lightens your load, so to speak, but it also encourages them to share their experiences and advice, which could benefit you enormously.
Sitting down with a professor to explain how their class is contributing to your situation could also be a smart option for some students because it could encourage them to help you in terms of lessening your work load. If they know that you are facing overwhelming feelings of stress, they could assist you by extending deadlines when reasonable. They could also help by referring you to relevant organizations on campus, such as student counselors, who are nonjudgmental, extremely knowledgeable resources for students who want to improve their emotional well-being.
So, although stress can never be completely eliminated, it does not have to be a constant fixture in your life. By exercising, planning ahead, and engaging in healthy communication, you can help keep your stress levels under control. By doing so, you not only improve your health and overall well-being, but you also ensure that you’ll remember your time in college as a positive experience.
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