The Effects Of Self-Stression On College Students

Leaving High School, I thought I was prepared to go into college. I knew how difficult college was going to be. So i told myself I would do my homework the day it was assigned, I would go to the tutors if i needed help, and I would study more to succeed. But one thing I did not prepare myself for was, how to overcome stress and anxiety. According to an article, “Stress in College: Experts Provide Tips to Cope” by Megan Reed, “…30% of students reported that stress had negatively affected their academic performance within the past year, and over 85% had felt overwhelmed by everything they had to do at some point within the past year.”(National Health Assessment) This report really captivated me because 30%

Well-being is slowly being recognized as a subjective concept. While others may view an individual’s situation as less than ideal, that person may still be perfectly satisfied with their situation. Taking this into account, researchers focusing on subjective well-being realize that any circumstance may be interpreted differently, depending upon one’s own goals and current life stage (Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology, 2004). Goals and life stages are interwoven in that the current position one stands will have a dramatic effect on current or upcoming goals and aspirations. Happiness has been linked to having purpose and goals in life, along with healthy social relationships, feelings of security, and a lack of major stressors (Diener

Stress is a nonspecific response of the human organism to any demand make upon it. It can influence the way we perform on tests and homework and how we act at home or work. There are different types of stress that can occur in the body. Acute stress is the body’s response to imminent danger. This short-term stress usually occurs when we are told we will have a quiz or have to give a speech in class. Chronic stress is a prolonged physical or emotional stress. This can cause damage to the body if the stress lasts for too long. Optimal stress is intense enough to motivate and physically prepare us to perform well but not enough to cause harm to the body.

The journal that I had selected deals with the relationship between health behaviors and happiness. Through the use of cross-sectional survey of 800 randomly selected university students, researchers were able to analyze what it takes for students to remain happy when undergoing many life struggles.

Things like self-esteem, loneliness, self-doubt, and depression can often be factors some are forced to face (Michael, pg. 61). As it is the second leading cause of death and affects approximately 14.8 million people 18 years old and above, it is no surprise that college and university students are faced with this growing epidemic. According to the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA), the number of students diagnosed with depression had increased over a four-year span. In 2000, the ACHA-NCHA reported 10.3% of students suffering with depression and by 2004 that same time of year, 14.9% reported depression across 74 campuses in the U.S. with a sample size of 47,202.

The first strategy for coping with my stress is exercise. I try my best to exercise regularly and keep myself in the routine for physical relief.

Happiness is not the only indicator of psychological wellbeing. There are some others such as life satisfaction (e.g. Neugarten, Havighurst, &Tobin, 1961; Wood; Wylie, & Sheator, 1969), emotional and mental health , or subjective wellbeing (Kozma, Stones, & McNeil, 1991). These concepts have been used synonymously with psychological wellbeing, however, even though they are related with psychological wellbeing, they are not identical and should not define psychological wellbeing (Stull, 1987).

Why is it that some individuals are so high above the curve in terms happiness and optimism, even in the face of challenges and misfortunes? Whatever it is, there are individuals in psychology who wish to study and understand the science of happiness. These individuals specialize in the new field of psychology, positive psychology. Such researchers wish to gain insight on gaining happiness and building a resiliency to negative emotions. With an increasing emphasis on measuring college success, primarily through academic outcomes, it becomes understandable that school professionals might stay active in monitoring student’s well-being and happiness. However, how and why student’s well-being and happiness plays a role during their time on campus and what college faculty members are doing, or not doing, remains an interesting area for review. The intend of this research is to produce a better understanding of how college student’s level of wellbeing and happiness is monitored or could be monitored by faculty besides how emotions and a student’s happiness level affect individual students’ time on campus.

Self-compassion as a Buffer against Homesickness, Depression, and Dissatisfaction in the Transition to College was a study done to test to see how homesickness relates to depression and the disliking of college, researchers wanted to show if a higher self-compassion has a decrease in depression. The participants in the study were college freshmen, this was to see how in the first few weeks of school they felt and how they felt at the end of their first semester (Terry, Leary, & Mehta, 2013). The goal of the study was to test if self-compassion plays a role in students adjusting to college and how much they experience depression, homesickness, and how satisfied they are with the decision to attend college (Terry et al., 2013). The participants

Conclusions demonstrated that multiple protective and risk factors contribute to the psychological well-being and distress of university students. Health promotion practitioners should adopt strategies that strengthen the personality characteristics and values associated with university students' psychological health”(Burris 2009). This indicated that a particular lifestyle can be the result in why a student in a university may be dealing with a poor mental health. Sexual partners and spirituality may conclude the need to be more self focus oriented. I would also like to explore if the pressures of assignments or if a declared major indicated whether or not that is a factor in the mental state of the

The field of self-compassion research is emerging and gaining momentum as significance is found in the role of self-compassion to psychological wellbeing, social connectedness, and emotion regulation (Barnard & Curry, 2011). I am interested in investigating if future study results from this proposed project, using a sample of students at University of Alaska campuses, will corroborate with findings from existing literature. Also I am interested in examining the previously discussed cited qualities that are predicted by self-compassion such as, emotion regulation and social connectedness. Thus, the purpose of the proposed study is to investigate correlations between self-compassion, collective self-esteem, and emotion regulation. The term emotion

The impact of stress among college students may have a negative impact on the student’s psychological health. Research indicates that depression rates in college students have been increasingly rising over the years. In 2012, a study was conducted by the National Survey of Counseling Centers which resulted in 91% of the researchers found an increase in students with psychological needs. To resolve college students’ stressors, Surgeon General and additional research studies propose that students who are more active exhibit a decrease in stress, anxiety, and depression. In order to improve and retain a healthy lifestyle, physical activity

There isn’t a better, more comforting feeling, than coming home after a long, hard day at work or school and being welcomed at the door with a wagging tail, wet kisses, and an excited to see you face from your dog. For many, having any sort of interaction with a pet or animal is the ultimate cure to stress that is caused by work, people, and life. While not every college student is able to have a loving pet in their lives, even a momentary encounter with any animal can lower stress and anxiety levels. Multiple studies have proven that animals are a powerful form of stress relief by not only lowering blood pressure, but also lowering a dangerous stress hormone, cortisol, which is correlated with depression and anxiety. Interactions with animals have also proven to raise oxytocin levels, which are linked to pleasure, relaxation and happiness. Lowering stress and anxiety in college students will help them academically and socially throughout their college lives. College students will experience lower stress levels, a lower level of cortisol, and live a happier stress-free life by interacting with animals or pets throughout their time in college.

Research has established and continues to support the benefits of self-compassion. Indeed, there is evidence that self-compassion is associated with emotional intelligence, intrinsic motivation, emotion focused coping strategies, and life satisfaction (Neff, 2003b; Neff, Hsieh, & Dejitterat, 2005). Additionally, self-compassion protects persons from self-criticism, anxiety, and depression (Neff, 2003b; Neff, Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007). Self-compassion also involves taking responsibility for one’s mistakes, and in turn being motivated to change maladaptive thoughts and behaviors (Neff, 2003a; Leary, Tate, Adams, Allen, & Hancock, 2007). Furthermore, self-compassion, not self-esteem, accounts for the attenuation of people’s reactions to negative events (Leary et al., 2007). Together these findings indicate the importance of self-compassion as it promotes adaptive psychological functioning while preventing negative outcomes.

Going to college for the first time in a student’s life is an exciting experience for most. This means having opportunities that weren’t so easily assessable before going to campus, and having the freedom to find ones’ self. While mom and dad aren’t there to hold their child’s hand anymore, the student is more likely to face new challenges, or similar challenges to those faced before, yet suddenly more difficult to handle alone. According to the 2015 National College Health Assessment, 30% of students reported to have noticed a negative impact that stress in their daily lives was taking on their education. College stress can be caused by many factors including, but not limited to poor time management skills, pressure from superiors and ones’ self to excel, and lack of creating new relationships with peers.