The Pros And Cons Of College Stress

Over the past few decades, there has been a dramatic shift in college experience and job opportunities: College tuition has spiked, students have to work more to pay for their education, there are new fields of study and discoveries that hadn’t existed previously, and there are new standards in order to be deemed successful in each respective field. There is no doubt that college age students, roughly aged 18-22, would start to feel this pressure as it coincides with other constant pressures such as moving out, being financially independent, and having a new social freedom. However, for some people it can prove to be too much. It was found in Brougham’s (2009) study that both college men and women are very likely to use avoidance and self-punishment

As far as mental behaviors, organization is a key in managing stressors. In Misra and McKean’s study (2000), it was found that there was a strong correlation between stress, time management, and perceived academic stress. In addition to mental behaviors, physical behaviors hold equal importance, especially in the case of healthy habits. To reference back to Brougham’s (2009) study again, he stated, “students who reported higher levels of stress also consumed a greater amount of ‘junk food,’ were less likely to exercise, and less likely to obtain adequate amounts of sleep”. Supporting this evidence, Kandiah (2006) reports that in her study of college women, 81% reported a change in eating habits when they are stressed. Not only can stress effect eating habits, it can also effect sleeping habits, as found in Pilcher and Walter’s (2010) experiment where students were more confused and despite putting forth all of their effort, they were not performing as well as normally sleeping students. Bringing all of this evidence together, it is important that health habits like eating and sleeping change, because even though they may seem unrelated, they can create a cycle of bad performance and stress if not recognized and fixed soon enough. Therefore, by correcting these emerging problems, we can create better-prepared and healthier young adults to help

Encouraging enrollment in these classes could include offering them similar to a freshman seminar course where students earn a credit for taking it, or having “bribes” like extra credit or prizes. On the task of healthy habits, schools would be increasing healthy coping options for students around the time of stressful testing, particularly midterms and finals. Late night study events could be a program suggestion, while it casts aside healthy sleeping habits it can provide healthy snacks such as fruit and low sugar cereal for students who would be awake and eating junk food anyway. Another program could be a meditation or yoga class, because it is using low to moderate exercise as a healthy coping method. For students who are particularly struggling mentally, schools could also have a 24/7 hotline where students can talk to someone about their concerns anonymously. All of these ideas are on par with some Chicago Department of Public health programs like after school programs, domestic violence hotlines, and job training for ex-offenders; which means that they are within the capabilities of the