We’ve all had this feeling before. Our muscles tense from it, our bodies feel exhausted, and our minds run wild. Yes, the feeling is stress. According to Merriam-Webster.com, stress is defined as “a limiting force or influence such as a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes physical or mental stress and may be a causative factor in disease (2011).” As a college student, I deal with all kinds of different stress. Also, most of you probably witness quite a bit of stress in your life. Having to deal with stress as a student is not uncommon. A recent MSN article reports that the Associated Press conducted research on college student stress at many universities across the United States. The survey found that four in ten college students report feeling stressed frequently. One in five say they feel stressed most of the time. One in four students experienced daily stress and one in ten had suicidal thoughts (2008). That’s why today I’d like to tell you what I think are three of the top stressors that everyone goes through. This would include financial problems, job stress, and personal relationships. Next, I’d also like to walk you through five steps that I’ve found helpful in coping with stress.
The first major stressor is financial problems. Bills can get overwhelming. Especially when they keep piling up. Most of us have student loans, credit card bills, rent, gas, electric, phone bills, and the list can go on. Plus, with gas prices continuing to rise, the cost of school going up, groceries going up, and the pay rate going down, not to mention co-op jobs are hard to find, stress can easily build up when financial burdens they surpass us , and dealing with stress becomes difficult when we do not have a good strategy to keep stress under control.
In addition to financial stress, we have stress in the workplace. Stress in the workplace can be caused by many factors. You may be worried about getting your next promotion or worried about losing your job because of the bad economy. Other factors could be the experience of negative behavior from your co-workers or boss. You may not be reaching your career goals or there may be major changes taking place at your workplace and you’re worried about how it will affect you. Many factors in a workplace can create stress and overwhelm us, especially if we don’t know how to deal with stress.
In addition, there is the stress of personal relationships. We can receive attitudes from our relatives. Having arguments with our children or spouses. There could be a possible illness to deal with in the family, or a major change in location could have occurred. All of these bring a great deal of stress in our lives. Without knowing how to cope with all these stressors, they could really wear a person out.
So I’d like to introduce an acronym that I use to remind myself of five steps to coping with stress. The acronym is RELAX. It means acknowledging, exercising, letting go, attitude, and extra sleep. Let’s go through each letter one by one.
The first letter is “R”. “R” stands for Acknowledge. We must first recognize stress before we can cope with it. Once you recognize stress, try writing what’s stressing you out on a piece of paper. This is a way to blow off steam and discuss a better way to approach your situation. Also, some people just find writing very relaxing and helps calm their nerves.
The second letter is the letter “E”. “E” stands for Exercise. Incorporate exercise into your life. Make it a daily routine. Set aside time to exercise because it’s just good for you and will help take your mind off your worries. If you can learn to create a routine, then you can start to build that routine and become more organized. Over time, you’ll feel less overwhelmed and enjoy a healthy routine.
The third letter is “L”. “L” stands for Let it go. Many times things can be let go. Think about it? Will it matter ten years from now, or even five years from now? If what’s stressing you out doesn’t matter in the long run, let it go because it’s not worth stressing over. Life is too short to be anything but happy. If it’s important, take a minute and then approach the situation piece by piece so you can make a good decision.
The fourth letter is “A”. “A” stands for Attitude. When you talk about school or work, do you often talk about how you’ll fail, or how you won’t be able to do it, or how it’s too hard? Well, that’s just being pessimistic and clearly having a bad attitude. Then you need to take a step back, assess yourself, and adjust your attitude. According to Psychology Today, “Optimism is an admirable quality, which can positively affect mental and physical health.”
Now, the fifth letter is “X”. “X” will stand for Xtra sleep. Everyone needs a good night’s sleep to have energy. Are you not getting enough sleep? Do you stay out all night? Or do you stay up late? So you need more sleep. The best way to get the sleep you need is to have a schedule and stick to it. Go to bed a hundred times. When you develop a routine, you’ll notice that you have plenty of time during the day to get things done. In the end, you’ll feel less frustrated when you get the sleep you need.
On the other hand, not all stress is bad. What I have been referring to is bad stress or what is called anguish. But, there is good stress. Good stress is stress that comes from emotion or adrenaline and can be very beneficial.
In conclusion, what I have reported to you today are some of the major stressors in our lives, such as financial problems, workplace stress, and personal relationships, and how you can cope with stress using the acronym RELAX, Recognize, Exercise, let it. -go, Attitude, and Xtra Sleep. So now, if you find yourself in a stressful situation, you’ll know what steps to take to reduce that stressful event, or if you can’t remember all five steps, you’ll at least remember the acronym RELAX and just relax. That alone can help de-stress.
This is just one way to deal with stress. There are many other ways to deal with stress that will be introduced to you throughout this website such as: using stress relief games, dealing with anxiety, using stress toys, taking herbal remedies for anxiety and more.