45.3 percent of nearly 68,000 college students experienced more than average stress within the past twelve months in 2019. 13.4 percent of those college students reported feeling tremendous stress (American College Health Association, 2019).
Stress can look differently to everyone; however, we all have a stress-response system, which is meant to be activated to stressors. This is the basic fight-or-flight response. When a lion chases you, your body experiences physical reactions that allow you to escape. But this process can also be activated for environmental stressors, such as school, family issues, relationship problems, or death of a loved one, and nothing stresses us out more than our own heads. Even just thinking negative thoughts can cause the stress-response system to activate. Stress comes in two forms: acute and chronic. Acute stress is temporary response to an unexpected event, such as almost getting hit by a car as you walk across the crosswalk (American Institute of Stress, 2019a). We can quickly recover from acute stress. Chronic stress, on the other hand, is more long-term and has serious effects both physically and mentally (American Institute of Stress, 2019a). Chronic stress feels like you can't escape, like you are constantly drowning. This is the kind of stress that will lead to burnout.
As defined by psychologist Robert C. Ciampi (2019), burnout is "a state of emotional and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress." Stress is activated for so long that you have no energy or motivation; no matter what you do, nothing will get better (Ciampi, 2019). Burnout is essentially when you feel so exhausted that nothing else seems to matter, and it often occurs when you overwork yourself or push yourself beyond your own limits. This is a typical feeling in college, especially around the middle of the semester when you now find yourself balancing classes, extracurricular activities, social relationships, jobs, and more.
Physical
Headaches
Jaw pain
Muscle pain
Chest pain
Rapid heart beat
Loss of breath
Stomach pain
Nausea
Shakiness
Sweaty hands
Behavioral
Changes in appetite
Avoiding responsibilities
Increase in drinking, smoking, or drug use
Fidgeting or nail biting
Emotional
Agitation/irritability
Low self-esteem
Loneliness
Depression
Feeling overwhelmed
Feeling a loss of control
Cognitive
Forgetting things
Being disorganized
Inability to focus
Worrying
Nonstop spiraling thoughts
Memory problems
Irritability
Fatigue
Depression
Feeling overwhelmed
Anxiety
Avoiding work/important tasks
Avoiding social situations
Seek academic help. A lot of stress in college comes from overwhelming pressure to perform well in classes. If you feel yourself falling behind or even if you just want to avoid falling behind, seek some of IC's helpful academic resources. The best thing to do is talk to your professor, but for other additional help, talk to the Center for Academic Excellence to learn about services such as the writing center, the speech center, TRIO, and more.
Use technology. Technology is quite possibly one of the biggest distractors of our generation. Social media, texting, and mindless games all occupy our focus, which only worsens the stressful situation. Check out some of your phone's useful settings, such as the do not disturb setting (American Institute of Stress, 2019b). You can also find scheduling apps or homework apps that helps you to keep track of your responsibilities. Use Google Calendar or a similar services to send yourself reminders.
Say no. One of the hardest things in college is balancing work with free time. As the semester progresses and you make more friends, it is likely that you will want to dedicate more time to social hangouts than your work; however, you have to maintain a happy medium between the two. If you feel overwhelmed, don't feel bad about turning down a social interaction. Your friends are in the exact same situation, so they will understand if you have to skip a hangout.
Stay organized. Stress becomes more overwhelming when you can't keep your own thoughts straight. Every day, make a to-do list of assignments, classes, job shifts, meetings, etc. so you know what to expect in your day. Perhaps try organizing based on priority or time. Make sure to cross off the task from your list every time you complete something so you can watch yourself complete small goals throughout the day.
Maintain a healthy sleep schedule. Set a bedtime for yourself every night and stick to it even if you don't get everything done in the day that you wanted to. It's also important to set a regular wake-up time and always try to get out of bed when your alarm goes off. Burnout makes you feel incredibly tired, so getting enough sleep will help prevent burnout.
Give yourself a break. Working the entire day nonstop is the best way to develop burnout. Give yourself small breaks throughout the day and bigger breaks on weekends to give your brain a rest. One method is to work for fifty minutes straight with a ten minute break at the end. This will help you balance your work without overworking yourself or procrastinating.
Maintain a healthy diet. Never skip meals to keep working. Additionally, you should always try to eat healthy foods to keep your brain in good shape. Avoid excessive drinking and drug use as this can increase stress.
Try stress-reducing practices. Everyone has different stress relivers that work for them. Find a productive way to deal with your thoughts and stress. This may be journaling, coloring, mediating, yoga, or something similar. Find something that allows you to relax without being detrimental to your health.
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American College Health Association. (2019). Reference group executive summary: Spring 2019. National College Health Assessment. https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHAII_SPRING_2019_US_REFERENCE_GROUP_EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY.pdf
The American Institute of Stress. (2019a, December 2). Burned out in college? Here’s how you can recover. https://www.stress.org/burned- out-in-college-heres-how-you-can-recover
The American Institute of Stress. (2019b). Stress in college students for 2019: How to cope. https://www.stress.org/stress-in-college- students-for-2019-how-to-cope
Ciampi, R. C. (2019, December 6). Stress and burnout: Know your limits. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/when-call-therapist/201912/stress-and-burnout