How to Handle Stress

By Taylor Davis:

As college students, the emotional and biological response known as stress is a vital part of our daily lives. Whether the reaction is due to an upcoming exam, a ghastly breakup, or the pressure to be as thin or as beautiful as those around us, stress can often be toxic to our overall well being. However, at the same time, stress is indispensable in daily life, and, in the right doses, can help people live longer, happier lives.                

The only way to know how to manage stress in daily life is to discern between healthy stress and unhealthy stress - and here’s the best way:

Unhealthy stress is an overwhelming sense of dread, usually accompanied by biological and psychological changes in the body. Unhealthy stress can lead to minor health complications, such as anxiety, depression, and fluctuating weight, but can also be hazardous enough to cause stomach ulcers, extreme mental illness, heart attack, and increase risk for certain cancers. Unhealthy stress is characterized by impaired concentration, unwarranted worry and fear, disrupted sleep, and anxiety even in times of complete calm. This sort of stress can come from exam season, the overall pressures of being in college, financial difficulties, or relationship issues. Any form of long term stress that takes its toll on your body, mind, and personality is unhealthy and should be taken care of immediately.                

Healthy stress, although seemingly an oxymoron, is also present in everyday life. Healthy stress can occur when you’re giving a public speech in front of class, when you’re in the last thirty seconds of a basketball game, and when you’re a little behind in work at the office. Healthy stress is what helped earlier mankind survive and hunt, and it is what keeps us alert at night when we are walking home by ourselves. Healthy stress gets our heart pumping and helps us quickly make decisions.                

After deciphering whether or not the stress in your life is healthy or unhealthy, it’s time to figure out how best to approach diminishing the unhealthy stress while keeping the healthy.

The best way to decrease stress is to do something that takes your mind completely off of the cause, or stressor. For example, reading a favorite novel and yoga are ways to engage your mind in something other than anxious thoughts. In extreme cases, a vacation may be in order. Another way to best decrease unhealthy stress is to tackle small jobs that will lead you to a larger goal of attacking the main stressor. However many yoga lessons and Harry Potter books you read, your stress will be waiting for you when you’re done. So, after you’ve had your mini-vacation, confront your stressor slowly, but steadily, until you have checked one more stressor off your list.

College is as stressful a time in life as any other, but unless you learn to manage and control your healthy and unhealthy stress, you’re in for much more than just a racing heart and sweaty palms.