Stress is no stranger to Stanford students. In the right amount it can invigorate and motivate. But that right amount is often exceeded by people here, and their abilities and quality of life suffer for it.
Stress is a non-specific reaction your body has when certain types of demand are made on it. It can be triggered by many things, like a sabre-tooth tiger, an exam, a death in the family, or going up and talking to someone you find very attractive. Stress comes from the inside, as you have to consider something a stressor to have a stress response.
Many Stanford students are always on-the-go, overcommitted, neurotic about wasting time (doing anything "non-productive"), sleep deprived, and pissed about losing the Axe.
Feeling like things are out of your control is a powerful stressor. When deprived of a perceived sense of control, the physiological results on laboratory animals is alarming.
Why should I care about my stress level?
The stress response can do damage. For the caveperson being attacked by a wild animal that's okay, because without the stress response, Fred or Wilma Flintstone will not survive the short-term to worry about long-term damage. But for you, the stress response isn't usually triggered by such a life threatening situation. According to a survey, the most common stressors in college are wasting time, meeting high standards, and feeling lonely.
The biological implications of too much stress are enough to stress you out: suppression of the immune system, accelerated brain aging, heart disease, digestive problems, ulcers, halting of anabolism (the functions that build up your body). As if that wasn't bad enough, the signals of unhealthy levels of stress go on: fatigue, headaches, poor memory and concentration, sleeping difficulties, indecisiveness, apathy, boredom, confusion, irritability, impatience, depression.
Simply, the human body was not made to handle chronic stress. If you have a human body, this should be cause for concern.
What can I do about it?
Now that you're all stressed out about whether you're stressed, take a deep breath and let's talk about stress management.
There are a number of things you can do, physical and psychological, to reduce and deal with stress. The first step is to figure out what stresses you. Better time management can attack procrastination and the feeling that things are out-of-control. Scheduled "down-time" for relaxation and recreation is shown to make one less stressed and more productive. Research has found that people with a positive attitude, committed to what they do, and feeling like they make a difference deal with stress better. That doesn't mean being a nauseatingly perky twit, but taking a "can do" attitude towards things, and looking at problems as challenges rather than obstacles. Having social support, friends to talk to, is also shown to be effective. With stress due to personal loss, talking to a counselor is a smart thing to do. Actually, talking to a counselor is smart for any kind of stress.
Relaxation exercises, deep breathing, and listening to mellow music all seem to be effective in reducing stress. Exercise increases the amount of endorphins in the body and reduces stress, as long as the exercise isn't a cause for stress itself, by pushing yourself too hard. Laughter also increases endorphins, so watch Beavis and Butthead. Sleep, good nutrition, and getting enough vitamins are also effective -- but all college students do that, right?
Stress is good in the right amount and at the right times, but chronic stress is unhealthy physically and psychologically. If you are suffering from it, there are things you should do about it. The benefits of stress management will last a lifetime, as it is rumored that stress exists outside of Stanford, as well.
References and Help:
A Stress Management Group from Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) (723-3785) at Cowell Student Health Center, 2nd floor. See a CAPS counselor for professional counseling, or call The Bridge, at 723-3392 for 24-hour peer counseling or if you just to talk. Look at The College Student's Health Guide, by Sandra and Christopher Smith. The Center for Teaching and Learning, 1st floor Sweet Hall, has advice on time management. Or if you can, go out dancing, spend an afternoon at the beach, on a hike, or taking a relaxing bike ride.