Being a college student is more than working on courses to find the right career. It means learning to juggle exercise, work, classes and socializing while managing stress.
While stress has been covered at IU Southeast in Student Program Council events and Common Experience sessions, many students are still unaware of its effect on weight gain and how to manage it correctly.
Seuth Chaleunphonh, director of Campus Life, said he believes stress is the main cause of the Freshman 15.
“My personal belief is that it’s how a student handles stress,” Chaleunphonh said. “It’s how they cope with new living arrangements, classes and no parents.”
Stress can lead to impulsive eating and over time can lead to various health risks.
The First-Year Seminar courses and nearly all health courses at IU Southeast cover stress at some point.
Stress appears differently for each person — it’s rarely ever the same in two people.
One person can be perfectly fine with tight deadlines and another will suffer and be miserably tense through it all.
“Once before a speech, I ate an entire jar of peanut butter,” Ariel LaGrange, elementary education senior, said.
By identifying stressors early on, students can learn to manage stress and avoid the consequences by using them as a personal warning system.
Overall, there are four categories of stress symptoms — mental, physical, changes in behavior and changes in thoughts.
A few of the most common mental stress symptoms are mood-related.
The physical symptoms are most commonly muscle tension or anything that emotionally or physically upsets a person.
Behavioral changes that might occur would be the need for more or less sleep, compulsive or emotional eating, consuming excessive amounts of alcohol and starting to use drugs as a release.
All of the symptoms affect the way the body works. According to research done by The American Academy of Family Physicians, two-thirds of family physician office visits are for stress-related symptoms.
Stress causes harm to the body after extended periods of stress. The effects of ongoing stress can include digestive problems, back pain, susceptibility to colds and flu, higher blood pressure and induced asthma attacks. It can also be the beginning of addictions, such as smoking and drug use.
Since the effects can get worse over time, it is important to figure out the problem and deal with it before it causes more issues.
“When you get stressed out, don’t use food for comfort,” LaGrange said. “Start moving — even working out just a little bit will help you feel like you accomplished something. Even if you’re up late, exercise.”
Some stress is the result of external and internal factors, such as work problems and feeling upset about a mistake made on an exam.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can change those factors, but the way they are handled can make a large difference.
Four good techniques to relieve stress are to take a timeout, breathe, relax and distract.
If that isn’t possible, then take time away from the issue or problem that is causing the stress.
If escape isn’t possible, take a deep breath and count to 10 before starting again. It will give you time to think about the situation and a chance to relax.
The next technique is to breathe. Deep, thorough and relaxing breaths through the nose, filling the abdomen and out of the mouth.
This type of breathing provides more oxygen to the brain and creates an overall calm feeling.
A good way to practice this type of breathing is to place a hand on the stomach and one on the chest.
Breathe deeply and see which hand moves.
For abdominal breathing the lower hand should move more than the upper hand. Keep practicing this until you don’t need your hands.
Term papers and projects are the primary cause of stress in students’ lives. Progressive muscle relaxation gives tense muscles a chance to relax and is good for a break from the project.
Progressive muscle relaxation is best started lying on the floor, a bed or sitting in a chair that has good neck support.
Close your eyes, take deep abdominal breaths two or three times, then tighten the muscles throughout the entire body. Hold for a few seconds and then relax them, breathing out as you relax.
Start again with the face, squinting the eyes, wrinkling the forehead or tightening the jaw — anything to tighten the facial muscles. Count to five and then relax, imagining the tension disappearing.
Continue tensing up each part of the body and save the legs for last.
Tensing, breathing and relaxing will create a more relaxed and refreshed feeling all over the body.
The last step to forgetting stress is to take a break from whatever the stressor is. This step is practiced by a wide range of people, especially business executives through Google’s innovative workplace.
Try getting up and taking a walk around campus, join a group activity or chat with a friend for a few minutes.
While dealing with stress is important to student health and fending off freshman weight gain, the most important part is to avoid stress at all.
Relaxation, regular exercise, eating right and avoiding addictions like smoking, drinking and any hard drugs are ways to avoid stress.
Get into some form of activity like a campus group, finding a hobby, experimenting with meditation or even indulging in a massage can help avoid stress.
Editor’s note: Grace Stamper, a former editor on The Horizon, wrote a series of articles about the health of college students. This is part three of four in a series about health and the Freshman 15.
By GRACE STAMPER
Contributor
gstamper@umail.iu.edu
