Post 2 : Stress

Stress, an unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well-being (Deckers, 2010). The  word stress means different things to different people. Some people define stress as events or situations that  cause them to feel tension, pressure, or negative emotions such as anxiety and danger. Others view stress as the response to these situations. This response includes physiological changes such as increased heart rate and muscle tension as well as emotional and behavioral changes. However, most psychologists regard stress as a process involving person's interpretation and response to a threatening event. 

Why college student's usually are the one who stress the most?

College students want to improve their future, they enroll in programs that allow them to get the better job. In order to do that students have to learn to fit into a new world. Typical November nights in a college student’s residence include cramming obligation to catch up on  papers due in December, and exams that lurk around the corner on a topic you fell asleep on earlier. Deadlines and due dates are non-existent for students until the night before since the preoccupations: partying and overall good times which lack library time and study sessions, expel more excitement than the adrenaline rush of a chemistry chronicle or a per-calculus problems. This builds up on the peer pressure which eventually leads to more stress. At most schools, the days of dorm rules and mandatory class attendance are long gone. But while freedom can be exciting and fun, it can also be stressful because no one is telling you what to do. You have to make a lot of decision on your own and readjust your own values and normal life. For example a college student has to adjust his or her habits accordingly to stay in good health, but this come at a price because of the lack of sleep from partying and late nights. There are bound to be mistakes, but that is part of the process. College life is more than just going to school and making the grades that your parents require of you. 

Also the cost of education and pleasure for college student is very expensive and students are forced to work while they are still in school. They have to spend time to work and cannot do their homework at work. Due to this they have to stay up late, they lose sleep and concentration and this is why they cannot retain all information given by instructors. I can tell you from personal experience that every time I get stressed I tend to eat a lot of junk food and don’t even notice it. This stress comes from my whole days of work and than going to class at night and after that studying until beyond midnight. If this is not enough, when I wake up I think about the bills I have to pay and keep up with my social network while repeating yesterday’s schedule.  Not only this but towards the end of the week I feel this stress on my body and just like the picture above feel like I am holding a bunch of giant rocks on my back. As soon as I get rid of one rock (stressor), before I know it another rocks comes out of nowhere (exam or project etc). Personally I feel that a normal amount of stress makes us all responsible and mature but too much will just come crashing down on us until we cannot handle it anymore and collapse.