Between her trips outside to chain smoke and to Starbucks to fill up on caffeine, Lacey Meyer somehow manages to get through Chapter 13 of her “Communication Theory” textbook.
Meyer was studying for midterms last week at SMU’s Fondren Library, loud rap music blaring through her green mini iPod headphones.
“I’m just not a healthy person when it comes to stress management,” Meyer said.
Meyer, a journalism major, is like thousands of other college students around the country. She studies, she parties and, if there is time, she eats and sleeps. Experts like Karen Settle of the SMU psychology department say that students don’t realize the damage they are doing to their health.
“If you don’t have time to take care of yourself, you are too busy,” Settle said.
Stress management is a problem that many SMU students deal with. In a recent poll of 40 students, 31 students admitted to feeling “stressed out” at least once a week.
Rachel Brown, an SMU junior, said she always feels overcommitted.
“I think that it would be fair to say that I spread myself too thin,” Brown said.
Craig Croce, who is also an SMU junior, said that the term “time management” is not in his vocabulary.
Are students like Meyer, Brown and Croce nearing what Gregory Hall, the chair of the department of behavioral sciences at Boston’s Bentley College, calls the balloon affect?
“If you blow and blow more air into the balloon without any controlled outlet, eventually the balloon explodes in an unpredictable and destructive fashion,” Hall said in an interview for http://campusblues.com.
The balloon is not the only thing that may burst.
At times, Croce said he feels as though he wants “to burst and scream.”
Stress usually develops over a period of time and often goes unnoticed by the individual until a physical or emotional toll has been exacted, according to Hall.
But, there are things that students like Meyer, Brown and Croce can do to reduce stress before it’s too late or at least before they are cramming for their first final this December. Chain smoking and chugging Starbucks is not the correct approach to this year’s study habits.
“Students use caffeine and cigarettes to push themselves further,” Settle said.
Although caffeine and cigarettes may seem to be a temporary solution, they actually increase stress, she said.
The major contributors to stress are poor time management and study skills, financial difficulties, diet, sleep, substance abuse and, most importantly, over-commitment, Settle said.
She added that stress usually occurs when student’s expectations exceed their abilities.
“Anxiety and stress seem to be the result of a hurried society that tries to do more than is possible,” Settle said.
A solution to stress is prioritizing one’s work and not spending excessive time on projects that don’t warrant the time, Settle said. It is important for students to consider their health needs and time availability in relation to their commitments.
“It is vital that one maintains balance to have a personal, spiritual, social and professional life,” Settle said.
She said in order to achieve this balance, students should strive to live life day by day instead of trying to do everything at once. Students should also try to reward themselves between tasks.
“Go outside, be with friends, laugh, exercise or nap,” Settle said.
Exercise helps energize the body, reduce muscular tension and increase oxygen flow to your system, she added.
Furthermore, napping will help the mind focus and think clearly, Settle said. Students shouldn’t eat for energy when they really need to sleep.
“Think of your body as a car, it needs good fuel to be maintained, sheltered, driven with care and tuned up periodically. Otherwise it risks breaking down,” Settle said.
