Dealing with Stress Case Study

Day-to-day life is filled with constant demands, disappointments, and deadlines. My body's natural reaction in response to these events is stress. However, during my transition into college life I have experienced more stress than usual. Most of the reasons for my stress can be categorized into one of the following three: academic stress, financial stress, and personal stress. It’s enough to make anyone feel overwhelmed. Its imperative to seek out positive and productive coping mechanisms to manage stress, so I can gain comfort from the situation.

Most of the stress I get from college usually has something to do with academics. Whether it's trying to cram in knowledge for a test or drowning in assignments, both are accountable for the bags under my eyes. Financial stress is another stressor as a new college student. The price of classes, books, and supplies is hard to budget when I also worry about other bills such as insurance payments and my phone bill. Finally, the most over-rated stress is personal stress. There're so many things I struggle with in my daily life such as work and relationship problems. There're so many things I’m tasked with at work it makes me stress about getting it all done.

Going through these stressful periods of time can put a serious strain on my physical health and emotions. When there's a lot of pressure on me I feel worried and anxious, and it’s usually hard to divert my attention away from what's causing me stress. This makes me closed off and quiet because I get stuck in my head imagining possible scenarios of what could happen with the situation. I prefer to be alone when dealing with stressful events because I don’t like burdening people with my problems and making myself vulnerable. This has led to problems in my personal relationships with friends and family because I’m not able to communicate effectively.

Although isolation is an unhealthy coping strategy, I feel like it’s made me more independent and it helps me focus on the tasks at hand. Another method I use to manage stress is by writing everything down that’s causing me stress and developing a plan of action to tackle that struggle. Making a schedule that balances time for work, school, and homework makes it easier to chunk and complete tasks at an efficient rate rather than stressing about when it’ll get done. I also enjoy music to help me cope with stress because it gives me something to focus on and it can cheer up my mood.

Some changes I'd like to enforce in my coping strategies is communicating to my friends and family more when I'm going through stressful situations. This would provide a positive venting outlet for me and it would also be an opportunity for feedback from a different perspective. I also should try to set aside time each day to evaluate my stressors and see past the hardships. Taking a few minutes each day to breath and gain a positive outlook on a situation can help me minimize the stressor.

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