Tips To Cope With Academic Stress

Most students experience a large amount of stress accumulated due to their academic activities, and this academic stress can bounce back on health, happiness, and grades. 

For example, an American Psychological Association (APA) study found that teenagers report stress levels similar to adults.

In this article, SchoolGist SA discusses how academic stress has affected students and how to manage it.

That implies that teenagers are experiencing a substantial amount of chronic stress and feel their stress levels generally surpass their ability to cope effectively. 

Roughly 30% of them report feeling overwhelmed, depressed, or sad because of it. 

Stress can harm health-related behaviors like sleep patterns, diet, exercise, etc. 

Given that nearly half of APA surveys, respondents reported completing three hours of homework in one night aside from their full day of school work and extracurriculars, this is understandable.

Causes Of Student Stress

A study found that much of high school students’ stress is a result of school and activities, and this chronic stress can persist into college or university years and lead to academic disengagement and mental health issues. Common causes of student stress include:

• Classes
• Assignment
• Social Challenges 
• Relationships 
• Work 
• Extracurricular activities 
• Transitions

High school and college students face the intense competitiveness of taking challenging courses, accumulating stunning extracurriculars, studying and acing college entrance tests and deciding important and life-changing decisions for their future.

 At the same time, they have to navigate the social challenges combined with academic stress.

Suppose college is part of a person’s plans. In that case, once they are accepted, the academic stress continues as they need to meet new people, handle more challenging tasks, be without parental support in various instances, and navigate the stresses that come with more independent living. 

Many students feel a sense of needing to relieve academic stress. Still, with all the activities and responsibilities that fill a student’s life, it is difficult to find the time to try new techniques to relieve stress. These options are comparatively easy, fast, and important to a student’s life and types of stress.

How To Manage Academic Stress

Academic stress has been one of many causes of ill-health, not-being fit physically, mood swings, and many more issues in a student’s life. 

The following outlines are to manage academic stress. 

Get Enough Sleep 

With their tight schedules, students are often found guilty of sleeping deficiency. Unfortunately, operating in a sleep-deprived state puts you at a great impediment.

 You’re less efficient, may find it more difficult to comprehend, and may even be a hazard behind the wheel.

Don’t derive yourself from a good sleep schedule. Aim to get at least 15 hours of sleep in a 48-50 hours interval and take power naps when you need them.

Practice Visualization

Using guided imagery to reduce academic stress is easy and helpful. Visualizations can help you calm your nerves, detach from what’s stressing you, and suppress your body’s stress response. 

You can also use visualizations to prepare for presentations and interview and score higher on tests by constantly seeing yourself performing just as you would like to.

Regular Exercise 

One of the healthiest ways to relieve stress is to exercise regularly. 

Students can put exercise into their plan by doing yoga in the morning, walking, jogging or biking to campus, or reviewing for tests with friends while striding on a treadmill at the gym. 

Constant exercise practice throughout your lifetime can help you live longer and enjoy your life more.

Practise Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Another great stress reliever that can be used during tests, exams, before bed, or at other times when stress has physically worn you out is progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). 

This method involves tensing and loosening up all muscles until the body is completely relaxed.

With regular practice, you can learn to release academic stress from your body in seconds.

 This can be incredibly helpful for students because it can be adapted to help relaxation actions before sleep for better sleep, something students can always use, or even to relax and reverse test-induced panic before or during a test or an exam.

Listen To Music

The majority of students have made music an escape root for academic stress. Music has been a convenient stress reliever and has shown many mental benefits.

Music can help alleviate academic stress and either calm yourself down or stimulate your mind, as the case may be.

 Students can use the benefits of music by playing their favorite calm music while studying, playing upbeat songs to “wake up” mentally, or relaxing with the help of their favorite slow melodies. 

Eat Well, Balanced, And Healthy Diet

You may not realize it, but your food can boost your brain activeness or weaken your mental energy.

A saying goes thus, make food your drug, or else you will make drug your food. A healthy diet heals any deformity in your body naturally without using drugs, including academic stress. 

A healthy diet can function as both a stress reliever and a study aid. Enriching your diet can keep you from experiencing diet-related depression, light-headedness, and more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are the frequently asked questions about academic stress and the appropriate answers.

Can Academic Stress Damage Your Brain?

Even among other healthy people, academic stress can lead to drainage in areas of the brain associated with controlling emotions, metabolism, and memory.

How Do You Know If Stress Is Killing You?

Unnecessary anger, overreaction, negative emotional states, and extended sadness lead to high-stress levels that can cause death. Damage to tissues in the body due to stress can lead to inflammation. Academic stress can lead to prompt headaches, ulcers, neck aches, allergies, and diminished sexual desire.

Conclusion 

Stress is one thing that can be taken away totally from people’s life. Academic stress is the student’s major barrier. This article has dropped some effective tips on how to manage academic stress.