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Coping with Stress
What is stress?
- A lock of fit between the perceived demands of the environment and the perceived ability to cope with those demands.
- For example, some people overestimate the demands of exams and underestimate their ability to succeed. Consequently, they suffer stress and anxiety.
What causes stress?
- Physical environment: noise, heat, amount of personal space.
- Too much work to do or badly planned and organised work.
- Not meeting deadlines.
- Perceived lack of control.
- Lack of sleep.
- Poor diet.
- Too much alcohol.
- Lack of exercise.
- Being too much of a perfectionist.
How do we react to stress?
- Physiological: increased heart rate and blood pressure, exhaustion.
- Behavioural: withdrawal, anti-social, overworking to compensate, drink and eat too much.
- Physchological: become irritable, depressed, anxious.
Why is stress a problem?
- Once recent study by psychologists at Coventry University found that more than half of a sample of 'A' level students found exams very or extremely stressful. Many also reported loss of sleep and appetite, headaches, binge eating and drinking.
- Stress self evidently causes anxiety.
- Stress interferes with effective learning.
How to deal with stress
- Plan and organise your work.
- Work regularly and steadily.
- Get fresh air and exercise.
- Do not cut yourself off.
- Eat regularly and sensibly.
- Get plenty of sleep.
- Have some fun.
- Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
- Talk to parents, friends, teachers if things are getting you down.
- Get academic work in perspective. It is not all there is to life!