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Coping with stress in college

Helena Negru
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Abstract

Stress is part of daily living for all adults and is a well-known concept all around the world.

People often say they are stressed out. Different people cope with stress in different ways, so

there are individuals who are able to function well under a high amount of stress, while others

are more sensitive in front of this phenomenon.

What is stress and how it affects our society? This is a question with a complex answer, as stress

has broad implications at all levels of our society. A stressed out person will have a low

productivity and is prone to getting sick easier. This will affect their job performance, which can

affect the entire company. By extrapolating the effect of stress, the more companies are

negatively affected by stress, the entire economy will suffer.

Young adults are among the demographic category most prone to stress. Going to college and

changing their familiar environment is a huge stressor for students. This is why I will expose the

effects of stress on students in this paper, as well as the best methods to cope with it. It is

important for all students to know how to cope with stress in college, in order to minimize its

negative effects and perform better in personal and professional life. Being able to cope with

stress, the student can ensure themselves a productive life in college and in their future job.

Keywords: stress, student, college, coping

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Coping with stress in college

Student stress levels at national level are rising, as more and more students report high

amounts of stress in college. The most common stressors for young adults are academic and

financial (LeRoy, 1988). Most students complain about the tight deadlines and the high financial

pressure generated by their student debt. All these problems materialize in excessive amounts of

stress, which often push students towards destructive behaviors like drinking or smoking.

Topic and focus of paper

This paper looks at how students can cope with stress in college, to minimize its negative

side effects. Stress leads to multiple reactions, depending on how the individual perceives the

stressful situation. The longer the stresser action, the more reactions may occur. These may

include depression, poor general condition, decreased immunity, crises of an older chronic

disease, insomnia, decreased cognitive abilities, etc.

The negative effects of stress also affects the individual's friends and family. Research

showed that students are subjected to high amounts of stress, as their teachers become more

demanding, compared to high school, and they have to adjust to a young adult's life, away from

home. Due to these high demands, college students experience high amounts of stress, which

hinders their time management skills and might alter their behavior, leading to a number of

addictions. Drug addiction or alcohol addictions are common among stressed out students.

Learning how to cope with this condition is critical for young adults, as it gives them the

opportunity to balance their academic expectations and their dynamic lifestyle.

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Connect

In order to be able to find coping strategies, one must know what stress is. Defining

stress is not easy because it is a complex process. Thus, Selye, known as the stress parent,

defines stress as a general non-specific reaction of the body to the action of stressors (Selye,

1974, p. 176).

Lazarus and Folkman bring another definition, known as the cognitive theory of stress.

For them, stress is the behavioral and cognitive effort to control external or internal demands that

exceed available resources (Lazarus, Folkman, 1984, p. 6-20). Stress can also be defined as the

set of reactions of the human body to the action of external, physical, chemical, biological or

psychic agents (Selye, 1974, p. 14).

Stress consists of morpho-functional changes, most commonly endocrine. Selye

measured stress by assessing the physiological responses of the human body, represented by the

activity of the sympathetic nervous system and the pituitary, adrenal and cortical glands. There is

a physiological reaction to stress: the body begins to produce more cortisol and noradrenaline,

which arouses the whole body.

Less important functions, such as digestion, are slowed down, as the body prepares to

react. This reaction can be to flight or to fight, active or passive response (Goligorsky, 2001).

This is a reminiscence of the times when Homo Sapiens had to make life and death choices

several times a day. If stress has ensured our success as a species, it now puts us at risk because

we are subjected to long periods of stress, instead of short-term situations.

By studying long-term stress, Selye identified a general adaptation syndrome,

characterized by three stages (Selye, 1974, p 20-30):

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1. alarm stage involves the mobilization of all the body's resources. Upon the onset of the alarm

response, body resistance decreases. If the stresser persists, it will enter the second stage of stress

2. resistance - Once the body becomes accustomed to the stressor, its resistance rises above

average

3. exhaustion - if the action of the stressor continues, the body will enter the third stage of stress.

The body exhausts its resources, and its resistance drops again below average. When

stressful episodes are short and rare, there are no negative effects on the body. But when their

length increases, or the stress episodes become too frequent, the body's resistance decreases and

it becomes prone to disease (Selye, 1974, p. 176).

To minimize the negative effects of stress on the body, individuals should develop stress

resilience. Resilience is defined by the American Psychological Association as the process of

adapting to significant sources of stress. An individual's resilience to stress can change over

time, being influenced by external factors (Sherrieb, Norris, & Galea, 2010).

Apply

Stress is one of the most powerful influencers of human behavior. In order to minimize

its effects on the human body, individuals develop different coping mechanisms. The concept of

coping was defined by Miller as the learned behavioral responses which successfully lower the

arousal caused by stressful situations (Miller, 1980).

When the individual is trying to cope with stress, they can develop negative habits, which

lead to more stress, instead of reducing it. In students, the most common negative coping

mechanisms are addictions. Students use smoking, drinking, overeating and drug abuse to reduce
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the stress in their lives, but they end up addicted to these behaviors.

Once addicted to one of these negative coping mechanisms, the student might find it

themselves into a dangerous loop: the more stress they perceive, the more they abuse a certain

behavior, which creates more stress for the individual. Eventually, the addiction becomes another

source of stress. This can lead to health problems and low productivity.

There are multiple coping styles, depending on how the individual chooses to react in

front of stress. Dr. Chris Madden studied the coping methods of young adults and identified

eight coping styles: philosophical coping, problem-focused coping, self-blame, denial,

composure, self-care, orientation to others and acting out. Young adults and teens are prone to

adopt self-blame and acting out as coping styles. Madden also found that individuals become

better at coping with stress as they grow older, often migrating to less destructive coping styles

(Bellhouse, 2004).

Examples of positive coping mechanisms are humor, seeking support, relaxation and

therapy. Each of these mechanisms can be highly effective against stress, if the individual knows

how to use them. Something as simple as humor or positive reframing can help the student

overcome difficult moments. Seeking social support from friends and family is another way to

minimize stress.

Discuss

Stress is a major issue for all students, as they have to adjust to a new environment and

higher academic expectations. Most of them also carry the pressure of student debt and the

increased rate of unemployment. To be able to function properly, students have to seek social
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support from their peers or undergo therapy. This is one of the positive coping mechanisms they

can embrace in order to minimize stress and its negative effects upon the body and mind. Other

methods include effective time management, positive reinforcement and engagement in leisure

or physical activities.
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Reference

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