Younger College Student and Stress Paper Example

Introduction

Stress is termed as the body's reaction towards different demands and challenges. Also, it is either a feeling of physical or emotional tension which arises from any activity and thoughts that make a person nervous, angry or frustrated. Stress affects the emotional wellbeing, physical health and academic success among the students unless they know how to manage it. Stress among college students can be facilitated by the increase in workload, interpersonal relationships with other students, lifestyle change and being allocated new duties. Therefore, among the students' stress can lead to poor performance, attrition and reduced the student's life's quality. This paper will focus on the way stress affects the young college students' life.

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Types of stress

Acute stress

Acute stress is the immediate reaction which the body undergoes whenever one encounters a challenge or a demand thus triggering the body's fight or flight response. This kind of stress is not negative, and the isolated episodes do not have lingering health problems. The acute stress helps the body to develop an appropriate response to the future situations which might be stressful (Greenberg 2017). The pressure which is facilitated by a life-threatening condition can make an individual to develop health problems such as the traumatic stress disorders.

Chronic stress

Chronic stress develops when the acute stress lasts for an extended period without being resolved or managed. This kind of pressure is constant since it can be facilitated by poverty, a lousy job and dysfunctional family (Greenberg 2017). Chronic stress is detrimental to a person's health since it leads to other risk factors like cancer, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and accidents.

Episodic acute stress

The kind of stress occurs when severe stress in an individual happens frequently. For example, individuals who tend to have a crisis develop this form of pressure. People affected by episodic stress are anxious, short-tempered and irritable. Also, pessimists are affected by occasional stress since they always see the negative side of every action (Greenberg 2017). Therefore, people with this type of pressure are hard to change since they take stress as their part of life.

Causes of stress among the college students

Balancing their social life

Some students are unable to adjust from being under their parents' control hence they face difficulties in balancing their college academics and social life. Late nights, sporting activities, parties, and concerts are some of the events students in college usually dream of. In most colleges, parties and events might occur often making the learners to feel the urge of getting involved in them. Students who miss classes to attend these social events are unable to prepare for the lost time hence starting to be affected physically and mentally. Also, students might start taking drugs and alcohol whenever they are in college since they are away from their parents which lead them astray in the future after becoming addicts (Greenberg 2017). Therefore, these activities make the learners develop stressful conditions which affect their lives negatively.

Maintaining academic success

The source of stress in many students is trying to keep their performance since the grades affect their class ranking, future financial aids, being accepted in a school and the appropriate job offers. The scholarship is revoked whenever the performance of a student starts to fall thus requesting the learner to take some time off from the college. This action puts pressure on the students since they have to study for the exams and dedicate time for doing term papers given to them by the facilitator. The scholars also develop stress whenever they are trying to make decisions on their career path (Greenberg 2017). Besides, some parents put pressure on their children as they chose for them the career path to follow making the students not to make their own decisions.

Developing new friendships

The friendship which is created in the colleges lasts for a long time since the students tend to share information and secrets. Learning on the ways to chose friends in colleges is challenging hence putting pressure on the students. Learners experience difficulties in areas where they can meet new friends. It is a stressful situation depending on the way in which a person feels comfortable when meeting new people (Beiter et al. 90-96). In the colleges, associating with the students from a different background is challenging thus poses stress to the learners as they try to interact and know each other.

Handling of dramas from the roommates in college

Students who share their dorm rooms tend to be stressed by the behavior of their roommates. The personality and daily habits of the roommates might vary leading to stressful situations in the hostels. Some students come to the colleges without having an experience of sharing possessions and rooms with anyone. When the learners are put together in a room, they develop difficulties when trying to interact and associate with each other (Beiter et al 90-96). Stress can also be caused by the noise made by the roommates, varying study and sleeping schedules and hygiene issues.

Managing the financial constraints

College life is expensive since the cost of tuition, board and books tend to add up quickly making it unaffordable to some students. The students who do not have scholarships are always worried about the way these bills will be paid for them to keep up with the college life. Some learners are forced to look for jobs during their schooling period so that they can offset some balances in the school (Beiter et al 90-96). This action makes the students not to concentrate on their studies leading to poor performance.

College stress management

Getting emotional support

Students in colleges can choose friends or family members with whom they can be sharing their challenges and emotions. Talking of the experiences, they encounter in the colleges will help in minimizing stress among the students. Also, in the colleges, one can check with the health centers which deal with students cases thus helping them in managing their stress. A professional counselor can play a vital role in supporting the students emotionally making them not to lose hope and have adverse health effects (Eva et al 327). Acquiring emotional support enables the students not to lose focus during their study have the energy to keep going despite the pressures and difficulties in the colleges.

Getting enough sleep

Students who have enough sleep are not prone to be affected by stressful situations since they get enough time to rest. Insufficient sleep puts the student at the risk of suffering from various illnesses like depression and diabetes. Sleep minimizes pressure among the learners hence making them active when conducting their activities during the following day (Eva et al 327). On the other hand, students should eat well thereby decreasing the energy requirements in the body. Therefore, eating well minimizes the threshold for the occurrence of stress in a person.

Conclusion

College students tend to be affected by the three kinds of stress depending on the experiences they encounter in the colleges. Learners develop pressure as they worry about their academic performances, interaction with the new students, their social life and drama which emanates from their roommates. These stressors might make the students to have adverse health effects while others deteriorate in their academic performance. Therefore, to manage the stress among the learner, they are advised to eat well, have enough sleep, exercise and to share their emotions with others.

Works Cited

Beiter, R., et al. "The prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of college students." Journal of affective disorders 173 (2015): 90-96. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25462401

Eva, Eliza Omar, et al. "Prevalence of stress among medical students: a comparative study between public and private medical schools in Bangladesh." BMC research notes 8.1 (2015): 327. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322466877_Risk_modeling_of_noncommunicable_diseases_using_sociodemographic_characteristics_lifestyle_and_family_disease_history_among_university_students_in_Bangladesh

Greenberg, Jerrold S. Comprehensive stress management(14th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education, 2017.ISBN: 9780078028663 Retrieved from https://www.textbooks.com/Comprehensive-Stress-Management-14th-Edition/9780078028663/Jerrold-S-Greenberg.php