Whenever our bodies respond to any external or internal demand, we experience stress. While stress often carries a negative connotation, such responses are often positive. For instance, your body recognizing and reacting to an oncoming car helps you stay alive. However, it is when we remain in this heightened adaptive state that our bodies can experience adverse physical, mental, and emotional effects. Thus, it is essential to realize when your body is telling you that your life is too stressful.
College students are subject to many demands in their daily lives.
These potential stressors include academic performance, relationships, social acceptability, and family expectations. Each one of us has a unique way of perceiving these demands and, thus, the way in which we deal with this experience is also unique. Being able to avoid stressful situations, and effectively cope with those situations we cannot avoid, is the mark of capable stress management. Some coping skills include self-awareness, being able to talk out problems, good nutrition and physical fitness, learning to relax, and learning to manage time effectively. Since we are all individuals it is up to us to find the combination of techniques that works best in reducing our particular unnecessary stress.