Understanding Stress

Logan Lashbrook

QS211
Professor Anderson
October 7, 2015
College students across the globe are put under high levels of stress. A study found that, “Up to 60% of college students drop out before attaining a degree, with the majority of these individuals leaving within the first two years” (Brausch 2011). Stress is known as a state of mental or emotional strain and/or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. When students first arrive at college, it is a big transition for them. Everything that they once knew has now changed drastically. There are increased demands for academic performance and an increased academic workload. This means studying for exams and doing homework takes up a lot more time. Anxiety and worry start to appear, as numerous exams have to be taken. One’s academic performance is directly affected in a negative way by academic stress. The social environment and living situations are completely different for the student as well. They must make new friends and adapt to the numerous things constantly going on around them. Many people are involved in extracurricular activities like sports or Greek life that takes a big chunk of time. Sometimes finances are also a factor in the stress, as a college education is not cheap. After all these major changes occur and with all these things going on, it is hard to manage one’s time. Stress is universal for college students so it is important to understand stress, how to cope with it, and eventually conquer it.
To maintain a healthy college lifestyle, one must understand the stress and how it ultimately leads to the realization of oneself. Stress helps self-identify oneself because it pushes the body to the limit and shows what individuals can accomplish in an uncomfortable state of mind. The first step to fully conceptualize your stress and realize who you are is by simply identifying that you are stressed. Then you can focus on how you are going to overcome the obstacle of stress and cope with it. Stress can attack your emotions and try to take you down, so one must control their emotions and identify what kind of person you want to be. After all the hard work of coping and dealing with the stress, one will ultimately become a better person and be more aware of what “I” or “me” truly is.
My first point I would like to hit on is how difficult but useful it actually is to just simply admit that you are stressed. Once students begin to realize they are stressed, only then can they begin to manage it. According to the Mental Health Foundation, “An important step in tackling stress is to realize that it is causing you a problem” (Stress 2015). Many people in their lifetime will run and hide from stress. Doing this makes the feelings caused by stress “feed on each other and can themselves produce physical symptoms, making you feel even worse” (Stress 2015). I think that if you aren’t made to deal with your stress and you just keep running from it then that is how you are going to be emotionally structured as an individual. A good way to gain emotional strength is to fight against the stressful situations you are put under. Stress is always going to be around the corner, so why not try to battle it and cope with it. There are many small changes a student can make to lower stress. A daily routine of a healthy diet, exercise, and relaxation techniques can do wonders for relieving stress. Another strategy to cope with stress is called Problem-Focused Coping (PFC). PFC is basically focusing on the source of the stress and tackling it head on. It was found that “individuals who engaged in PFC were more likely to perform better academically while also demonstrating higher levels of motivation” (Brausch 2011). Having the ability from within to block out thoughts and only letting in the ones you want is very important. Individuals have prevailed through stressful times by doing this and have acquired the emotional stability to block out certain negative thoughts.
Next, I would like to conceptualize how stress pertains to emotions. The thought that stress can actually attack your emotions and manipulate them is quite shocking. This leads me to believe that anyone undergoing stress is going to learn something about oneself in the process. As an individual you have to control your emotions and overcome the challenges that stress will face you with. Sometimes going to an outside source to help with emotions is needed. “Consulting a trusted friend or a counselor has a considerable advantage in that bringing thoughts and feelings into the open have been found to be beneficial”(Pfieffer 2001). Counseling can help you understand why the stress started by reflecting over the situation and then figuring out how to handle the stress in a better way. Social support is a good thing to possess when stressed as it can alleviate the pressure on oneself. Stress is a powerful thing and letting it have control over your emotions is detrimental to your physical and emotional health. “Stress was reported as the most common health factor affecting academic performance amongst college students” (Bausch 2011). An important goal in life is to become emotionally dependent so you can rely on yourself, no matter the situation. No matter what the curve ball or the last minute change, being able to overcome big or small obstacles in your life is crucial. Stress in your life is supposed to teach you dependent stability as a human being. You’re not going to be set up to lose but rather to beat stress and learn from the experiences you have been through. I personally have been in stressful situations and battling them and succeeding is an amazing feeling. After all the hard work to cope with stress is done, one can become a stronger person.
I believe that stress needs to be examined from a different standpoint. What I mean by that is stress is a way oneself should be able to self-identify. Having the strength and mindfulness to admit you’re stressed is an important goal. Becoming aware of what “I” or “me” stands for and being able to identify who you are is the definition of strength gained from stress. Obtaining the knowledge from the hardship you were once faced with and turning that knowledge into emotional stability is essential. There is a difference between conquering stress and just dealing with it. When your stress has been conquered, you are taught life lessons and you learn about yourself. Just dealing with stress might work in the present, but what have you learned if you have not figured out a way to change the outcome. The lessons you are supposed to learn will not only help you in the present but more importantly in the future. For example, what are you going to do if you haven’t acquired the life lessons in your college life that you need for your adult life? The emotional standards that stress teaches you will be beneficial in the long run. What stress really helps with is finding that dividing line of who you are as a person and the qualities that you want to have as an adult. Knowing that you can and will beat stress and the emotional rollercoaster that coincides with it is key. Benefitting in a positive way and developing good lifetime habits is what stress is supposed to teach you. Stress teaches oneself to take something negative and slowly create it into something that is positive and beneficial.
It is interesting to explore that men and women react to stress differently both mentally and physically. Women and men have reported similar averages in stress levels but women have consistently been higher in most categories. Most women are more likely to post higher stress levels in both physical and mental stress. This explains why women are more likely to admit their stress about school, money, a job, etc. Women are considered to have considerably better coping strategies than men because they have a more open relationship with stress. They are more likely to talk through their stress when men would rather keep to themselves. Women are better at connecting with others, which is beneficial to their stress management. This leads to more women cases of stress to be resolved because they are more probable to ask and receive help from others. Although men would rather suppress their feelings about stress, it leads to other qualities becoming prominent. Men that suppress their feelings are likely to become more emotionally dependent. Stress teaches men to become emotionally dependent because they are basically on their own in that fight. In most cases, men learn more emotional dependency from stress than women while women learn successful coping strategies and people skills by connecting with others.
I have explained that stress is a beneficial factor in self-identity and it pushes individuals to a limit, which can lead to emotional gains. A certain difficulty is admitting you’re stressed in the first place and dealing with the stress and emotions that will follow. All the personal hardships that come from experiencing stress can benefit oneself in a positive way by engaging emotional stability. Another important concept of stress is gaining positive coping styles. I have also brought to attention that stress can be gender-related. I believe my argument is justified because most people underestimate the severity of what stress can actually do to a person. It is basically over-looked in today’s society. I’ve never heard anyone say stress was an easy thing to beat and to have the emotional and physical strength to prevail against stress is an impressive accomplishment. Through experiencing stress, an individual must have figured out something about their self. As long as something is being learned from the stress, you will end up gaining wisdom from the situation. This eventually leads to different stress management abilities and the acquisition of personal qualities. Every single ounce of stress in college cannot be prevented completely, but it can be managed. As a college student, it is very important to understand and conquer the stress that you endure rather than let it defeat you.

Cited References
1. Brausch, B. 2011. The Role Of Mindfulness In Academic Stress, Self- Efficacy, And Achievement In College Students [Thesis]. Charleston, IL: Eastern Illinois University. 58p.
2. Stress [Internet]. Mental Health Foundation.; [cited 2015 October 5]. Available from: http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-a-z/s/stress/
3. Pfieffer, D. 2001. ACADEMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE COLLEGE STUDENTS: A LITERATURE REVIEW [Research Paper]. Menomonie, WI: University of Wisconsin-Stout. 28 p.