Xiaoqin Jiang

10/23/2019

English 110

Sam Bellamy

“How Different Methods can Help Relieve Stress”

Introduction:

Stress is one of the factors that grow with you as you age. It is a state of mental or emotional strain. In the lives of college students, we often encounter different stressors. The many kinds of stress might come from families, friends, homework, and so forth. When college students are overly stressed, their study efficiency decreases, they will feel mentally tired, and their low spirits affect their health. If students fail to seek help to control their emotions, they will develop serious anxiety and a negative mindset. Therefore, if students find a way to help themselves they can learn how to reduce stress.

Background:

Overstressed By Robert Half Mar 2, 2019

Stress is a problem that college students try to alleviate because the requirements of education cause students everywhere to go through considerable school stress. Also, this stress can affect test scores, participate in classroom activities, and the well-being of students everywhere. Therefore, the college years are considered to be one of the most stressful periods in student life. In 2017, college-aged Americans reported that modern college students have higher levels of stress than older generations. They usually don’t have positive methods of dealing with their stress. For example, some students choose to smoke and drink in order to relieve stress. Although these things may relieve stress immediately, but this can lead to unhealthy vices. Excessive smoking and drinking will only make you up to stress out more once the high wears off. They will also have a negative impact on your body, such as arise in blood pressure, make you nervous, or keep your up all night. Moreover, some students like to eat many foods for reducing stress. I interviewed my friends who are in college, and if they are stressed, a girl told me that she would want to eat chips or snacks and sweet drinks when she felt that homework is difficult and too much because when her mouth was moving that could distract her attention, and it could bring her satisfaction. But when she finished these foods, she found that she still left a lot of homework because when she was eating, she couldn’t focus on her homework, and the rate of writing and typing were decreased. Or another situation is she felt tired which was she want to sleep, and she didn’t want to do homework after eating. So, she gained nearly 14 pounds in a month. Thus, this event shows that eating and drinking too much is not a good way to deal with stress. You’re just escaping from the problem. If you don’t solve the problem from the root, the problem will still exist. Then, you’re going to keep repeating this process, and the result is your weight gain and make you feel worse about yourself like the stress keeps increasing and indigestion caused by overeating.

How stress affects our brain and body?

According to the American Journal of Psychiatry published that chronic stress can cause many changes in the brain and body. It increases the stress hormones leading to increased inflammation in the body, and many adverse consequences. For instance, atrophy of important brain structures, (the brain gray matter volume and hippocampus) which lead to impaired memory and other cognitive functions. Also, chronic stress leads to higher levels of depression and anxiety, insomnia, emotional suffering, and lower life satisfaction.

What are the Effective and Positive Methods to Coping with Stress?

First, getting enough sleep can help you learn better because sleep is related to stress. According to the article “The Overwhelming Benefits of Power Napping,” Elizabeth Scott, MS says: “Research shows that those who are sleep-deprived have more trouble learning and remembering, and perform more poorly in many areas.” This means that when you feel tired, your learning ability will decline. Also, you will be less patient and prone to irritability, which can increase stress. Dr. Neil Kavey (director of the Sleep Disorders Center at The New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City) says that “most adults need 7-8 hours of sleep per night because people who are sleep-deprived have a harder time receiving information due to the brain’s overworked or fatigued neurons.” (Neurons also called nerve cells, they are the most basic structural and functional units of the nervous system. Its function is to receive stimulation, generate excitement and conduct excitement.) This shows that getting seven to eight hours of sleep can recovery of neurons, which helps to protect and strengthen your memory. In addition, when people go into a deep sleep, their bodies can relax, their blood pressure will drop, their breathing is regular, and the brain is not sensitive to external reactions. Enough sleep improves the immune system and reduces the incidence of inflammation. So, it is a very important thing about getting quality sleep each night for .

Second, managing your time effectively will reduce stress. It’s significant to give yourself enough time to work on your studies if you want to do well, and you can save yourself a lot of stress if you plan with good time management skills. According to the article “How Time Management Can Help Reduce Stress,” Ashley Andrews states “By creating a clear plan for your work and a timeline with important milestones, you’ll minimize the effects of stress that come with working on your projects because with milestones in place, you can check your progress against.” This means that mastering time management skills will help you to maintain a healthy study-life balance. Knowing you are in control will reduce the amount of unhealthy stress you feel, regardless of what requests, demands, and distractions you have to face.

Third, creating a soothing environment can ease your stress. Your work environment can be your number one cause of stress because when you see the place littered with books, dirt and dust can make you uncomfortable. According to the article “The importance of creating a comfortable working environment,” Thompson Leanne claims “A comfortable physical space helps to create a more positive atmosphere, which, in turn, leads to improved motivation and a greater will to produce good results.” This means that a clean environment free from clutter helps to remove distractions and improves concentration levels. Furthermore, when you are studying, you can use aromatherapy candles because it will make you feel calm and stay awake. It’s often including ingredients of eaglewood, fennel, and chamomile. These plants have the effects of refreshing, soothing and enhancing memory. What’s more, aromatherapy candles don’t cause side effects because they are completely natural and the price is affordable for students.

Fourth, exercising and meditation is an easy and effective way to reduce stress. According to the article ”Impact of a Yoga and Meditation Intervention on Students’ Stress and Anxiety Levels”, Lemay Virginia says “yoga and meditation can improve college students’ attention and self-awareness, and they have become widely accepted as nonphar-macologic (nonphar-macologic refers to treatment that does not involve meditation.) modalities for stress and anxiety reduction as well as general health”. This means that yoga and meditation are a healthy way to relax the stress for college students, and they even help to relieve stress more than drugs. Yoga originated from ancient India. It can improve your physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual abilities. It is a kind of exercise that achieves the harmonious unity of body, mind, and spirit which includes the posture method of adjusting the body, breathing techniques, and meditation for regulating the mind. These methods able to make the state of mind becomes calm and positive. Meditation is sitting with your eyes closed and your knees crossed, adjusts the breathing, your hands in a certain position, and not thinking about anything. Also, when you are doing meditation practice, it must be in a quiet environment that is free from outside interference, and it is best to practice at the same time every day at the same place so that it will be easier to concentrate. In addition, regular aerobic exercise like brisk walking, jogging, and cycling will bring great changes to your body like metabolism, heart and spirit. It has a unique soothing and relaxing ability that provides stimulation and calming action to fight depression and relieve stress because these exercises reduce the levels of stress hormones (such as adrenaline and cortisol) in the body. It also stimulates the production of endorphins which chemicals in the brain that are the body’s natural painkillers, and mood-enhancing agents.

Fifth, music can reduce subjective fatigue, and makes people become comfortable and relaxed. Listening to music can improve the sympathetic nervous system. Its function is responsible for mobilizing the body’s resources to cope with the stress of the environment. According to the article “The Power of Music to Reduce Stress”, a psychology center’s author Collingwood Jane claims that “Listening to music can have a tremendously relaxing effect on our minds and bodies, especially slow, quiet classical music. This type of music can have a beneficial effect on our physiological functions, slowing the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing the levels of stress hormones. ” This shows that listening to music can relax the mood, makes people enjoy the songs quietly, and forget the worries so that their nerves can be relieved. It also helps to keep people focused. Moreover, singing can help people to vent their emotions. For example, in the karaoke hall, people can express their dissatisfaction by screaming or shouting.

Sixth, keeping positive thoughts help you improve your attitude towards stress management. According to the article “How Positive Thinking Impacts Your Stress Level” Elizabeth Scott, MS states: “Research shows the benefits of optimism and a positive frame of mind are huge. Optimists enjoy better health, stronger relationships, are more productive, and experience less stress, among other things.” This means that optimists are full of expectations for the future, they are more willing to spend time and energy to deal with their relationships and follow a healthy diet in life. Furthermore, when optimists face failure, they usually don’t give up easily, they will keep the mind to try again. By contrast, pessimists tend to blame themselves when they do something wrong and are unwilling to try again in failure because of the psychological effect that they don’t believe they can do it, and expect the worst. These kinds of people are not as confident about themselves as optimists.

Conclusion:

All in all, the above of 6 methods are healthy and effective for students to reduce stress. Ample sleep can give students more power to cope with stress. A great study schedule can help students to control their work progress. A comfortable environment can relieve students’ visual fatigue and make them study more seriously. Exercise and meditation help students become fully engaged in a relaxed state. Music can smooth out students’ irritability or anxiety. Students who are developing an optimistic attitude will make all the stress reduce to a minimum. These ways are very useful and positive!

Work Cited

Elizabeth Scott, MS. “The Overwhelming Benefits of Power Napping.” October 31, 2019 <https://www.verywellmind.com/power-napping-health-benefits-and-tips-stress-3144702>

Ashley, Andrewsm. “How Time Management Can Help Reduce Stress.” Dec 15, 2016 <https://www.activia.co.uk/soft-skills/time-management/resources/how-can-time-management-help-reduce-stress>

Thompson, Leanne.“The importance of creating a comfortable working environment.” December 4, 2018 <https://www.succeedinginsmallbusiness.com/the-importance-of-creating-a-creating-a-comfortable-working-environment/#.Xb5eqS2VaqA>

“Reduce stress to protect your brain: over time, chronic stress can affect cognitive function, as well as lead to depression and other conditions.” Healthy Years, Mar. 2010, p. 5. Accessed 5 Nov. 2019. <https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A221060279/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=31997d5.>

Lemay, Virginia, et al. “Impact of a Yoga and Meditation Intervention on Students’ Stress and Anxiety Levels.” American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, vol. 83, no. 5, 2019, Accessed 3 Nov. 2019. <https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A596849950/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=1ff845a3.>

Collingwood, Jane. “The Power of Music to Reduce Stress.” Oct 8, 2018 <https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-power-of-music-to-reduce-stress/>

Elizabeth Scott, MS. “How Positive Thinking Impacts Your Stress Level.” June 14, 2019 <https://www.verywellmind.com/how-does-positive-thinking-impact-your-stress-level-3144711>

Eisenbarth, Chris A. “COPING WITH STRESS: GENDER DIFFERENCES AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS.” College Student Journal, vol. 53, no. 2, 2019, Accessed 3 Nov. 2019 <https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A594832698/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=bebd8de.>

Kaitz, Ashley. “Ways students de-stress on campus.” UWIRE Text, 18 Oct. 2019, Accessed 3 Nov. 2019. <https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A603060236/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=b4c26b2f.>