Example Of An Emotional Symptom Of Stress example essay topic

STUDENT GUIDE - MANAGING STRE tudents' Guide to Managing Stress Jack Wilcox Veronica Fields Tina Simmons Nicholas SadyGen 300 Submitted to: Drama Niko lic. PhD March 25, 2004 This paper will address three aspects of stress a student may encounter. Those aspects are types of stress, symptoms of stress and managing stress. In the types of stress we cover environmental, physiological and social stressor's. In looking at symptoms of stress we cover physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms. We conclude, by discussing managing stress where we cover time management, financial management and life management.

Students' Guide to Managing Stress In today's corporate world it is advantageous, if not required, for an individual to have some type of degree. Many companies require degrees for advancement and in some cases, require degrees before they will consider you as a perspective employee. Because corporate America is pushing for a degree workforce, many Americans have found themselves back in the classroom. Most of those people have found that becoming a student can be extremely stressful. Whether that stress is environmental, physiological, social, or a combination of all three is hard to determine. One thing is certain; that not a day goes by that a student does not encounter some form of stress.

Students that decide to attend any form of post education will encounter some form of stress. Our research looked at three major factors of stress. The first is environmental stress. Finding a quiet location where you could relax, read a homework assignment, or even write a paper is rare.

Noise, pollution, traffic, crowding, and even the weather (Archer & Carroll, 2003) can play major roles in your study locations. These are examples of the environment's role in stress. The next type of stress is physiological. Physiological stress includes illness, injuries, hormonal fluctuations, inadequate sleep and nutrition (Archer & Carroll, 2003). The literature indicates that the average age of a college student is increasing.

A majority of them have a family to take care of, a full time job, and a full workload of homework. Under these conditions, it is impossible to get a full eight hours of sleep. Taking care of one's body is priority number one. One must take care of themselves by eating right and getting enough sleep in order to avoid the factors of physiological stress. Finally yet importantly, social stressor's affect many college students.

Some examples include financial problems, work demands, social events, and losing a loved one (Archer & Carroll, 2003). Students know money a major contributing factor of stress in every individual's life. How are we going to pay next months rent, next semester's tuition, books, food, etc? Stress comes in various types. Whether we realize it or not, students must be able to recognize symptoms of stress in order to know if their body or mind is affected. "Symptoms of stress appear in many forms.

Some symptoms only affect the person who is directly experiencing stress. Other symptoms may have an impact on our relationships with others". (Archer & Carroll, 2003, Stress and College Students, Para 5). This paper discusses the three categories of symptoms one encounters with stress.

The first symptom that one might face deals with the physical aspect of their body. Have you ever worked on a project that gave you a headache after much thought? One might face this physical symptom. Muscular tensions, colds, ulcers and high blood pressure are but a few physical symptoms of stress (Archer & Carroll, 2003). Next are the emotional symptoms. Have you ever reached a point mentally where you were so overwhelmed you felt you could not go on?

This is an example of an emotional symptom of stress. This is one of the most common emotional symptoms that a college student might face. Depression, anger and mood swings (Archer & Carroll, 2003) are also common emotional symptoms encountered when one is stressed. Last but not least are the cognitive symptoms.

Forgetfulness, unwanted or repetitive thoughts and even difficulty concentrating (Archer & Carroll, 2003) are cognitive symptoms of stress. Each one of these symptoms mentioned could eventually lead to a student either quitting school or receiving other than satisfactory grades. Students must be able to recognize and know how to manage these symptoms as soon as they start. Many college students never had to manage their time prior to college.

Now a new situation has arisen. As a student, time management is very important when organizing ones' day and or week (Virginia Tech March, 04). There is no right way to manage time but there are some simple steps to follow. Step one - Get some sleep. A well-rested student gets the job completed. Equally as important is setting priorities daily.

Assess and adjust plans each day. Evaluate ones's chedule in the morning and in the evening. Create a checklist for that day's accomplishments. Finally, do not procrastinate. Start the project, complete it, and most importantly learn to say no. In addition, managing finances become essential in attempting to avoid stress.

The easiest way to achieve this is by establishing a budget. A budget is a plan for the future use of resources. "Preparing for college can be overwhelming. How will you pay for your education?" (web). Budgets are required to make sound decisions on a daily basis.

They should be well planned, flexible, and realistic to successfully manage finances. Finally, life management is an important way to cope with everyday stress. We can use many different stress-reducing techniques on a daily basis. Some ways include meditation, exercise, proper diet, restful sleep and allocating personal time. Others may find relief or benefit in religious events or activities. These are a few suggestions that contribute positively in relieving life's stress.

So as we can see, stress is a critical factor in our daily lives. Students easily succumb to stress. Although odds may appear overwhelming, we can face them by applying these stress management techniques in our daily life. As a result, we have a better chance at a successful academic future and a solid foundation of obtaining our career goals.

Bibliography

James Archer, Ph. D., Christina Carroll, Ph. D. (2003).
Jacquelyn Liss Resnick, Ph. D. editor Stress and College Students. Gainesville. University of Florida Burkett, Larry. The Financial Planning Workbook, A Family Budgeting Guide. Chicago: Moody Press, 1990 Budgeting / Financial information for College Students Website: web (visited site 3-1-04, 3-14-04 & 3-20-04) Virginia Tech Website: web Management.