Every now and then college can seem like a battlefield. As each year becomes harder we dodge bullets of stress, anxiety and the pressure to succeed.
We sometimes forget to Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS). Many college students are familiar with this feeling of pressure.
Especially when an exam is coming up, the library is filled with students trying to battle with their levels of stress.
I have personally witnessed and experienced this because I suffer from anxiety.
For many years I played around with coping strategies I heard about or found online. The coping method I realized worked best for me is working out at the gym.
Now, I am not saying that you should not study or do homework if things get tough, but I am saying that if you find yourself getting stressed out to the point where you get a headache or cannot sleep, take a time-out and go to the gym.
According to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, the best steps to follow in decreasing
Jessica Boushie / Equinox Staff
your stress or anxiety is to take a time out. This can include listening to music, practicing yoga, meditating, etc. Another step from the ADAA is to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and to not skip any meals.
Another way to de-stress is by counting to ten slowly. I have tried this, but by the time I got to seven I found myself tensing up to the point where I could snap my pencil in half. Although this did not work for me, it may work for you.
However, if counting doesn’t work try taking deep breaths, just remember to exhale when you do. Unfortunately, this method also didn’t work for me the way it should have because I would forget to exhale, which resulted in me becoming light-headed.
Something I naturally do when I am stressed out is add humor to the situation. This is also one of the tips the ADAA recommends. I find this to be the best way to relax. I have realized that when I am stressed I don’t see the green grass of life, I usually just feel awful.
Adding a little bit of humor makes me feel better about life.
A new tip from the ADAA is to accept that you cannot control everything. This is important to recognize. Furthermore, by accepting that you cannot control everything, all you can do is try to do your best.
Try to get enough sleep instead of staying up at night stressing over something you cannot control. Even if you cannot sleep, try to make yourself.
When you’re stressed out, your body needs additional rest. I have realized when I wake up I am not as stressed out as I am before I fall asleep.
Lastly, learn to distract yourself and learn what triggers your anxiety. You can distract yourself with Netflix, books, music or anything really. Using Netflix may become a problem for some people. When I use Netflix as my distraction I tend to not want to go back to whatever I was stressed about, which can actually lead to more stress .
Figuring out what triggers your anxiety is a great way to avoid stress and anxiety entirely.
These tips are what I used to decrease my stress. These are just some tips from the ADAA website that may work for you. If some of these tips don’t help you, check out the website to see the variety of tips that may help.
Leigha Hall can be contacted at lhall@kscequinox.com
