Stress Management Among College Students, Research Paper Example

College students become stressed by academic, financial, family, and personal challenges. Stress affects college students differently and hinders them from being productive and fulfilling goals. Financial challenge is the most significant stressor among college students as it undermines productivity and motivation resulting in increased dropout rates. Other stressors such as academic, family, and personal challenges also hinder college students from transitioning from college to future professionals. College students who cannot manage stress and avoid traumatic events throughout their college life are unlikely to fulfill academic and career goals. College students must seek interventions to combat stress and prevent its future relapses. This research paper brainstorms solutions to stressors affecting college students and determines the most effective solution options for managing stress. Financial therapy, exercising, and involvement in college activities enable college students to manage stressors and lead happy lives.

The Brainstorm of Solution Options

Using technology for mood tracking is an option for college students to manage stress. This solution enables college students to overcome stressors, enhance mental health and remain positive in completing education milestones. 75% of mental illnesses affecting Americans begin at age 24 (Ishak, Torres & Asan, 2020). Most Americans aged 24 are in college and are likely to succumb to mental challenges if they do not access appropriate interventions. Still, most US college students undergo mental health challenges when transitioning from high school to college life. Changes in living conditions and responsibilities heighten stress among college students. Using technology to track college students’ mood levels will help combat mental health challenges (Ishak, Torres & Asan, 2020). This will, in turn, contribute to diminished stress levels among college students who will seek health interventions to combat stress.

Another option for combating stress among college students is financial therapy. Financial challenge is a major stressor hindering Black college students from relating with their peers (White, 2020). Perceived inequality among Blacks and Whites contributes to increased stress among Black students. Financial therapy is essential in ensuring college students avoid stressors hindering them from collaborating with peers. Therapists must collaborate with clinicians to provide positive support to college students (White, 2020). Financial therapy and counseling are examples of how therapists and clinicians can provide positive support to college students. Therapists with fiduciary skills are likely to help college students whose stress results from financial stressors. Financial therapy encourages healthy behaviors among college students enabling them to boost their well-being. Therapists must use college resources to enhance optimism among college students enabling them to overcome financial uncertainties (White, 2020).

Exercising is also a solution to combat college stress, enabling students to promote healthy behaviors. According to Pascoe et al. (2020), physical exercises stimulate endorphins resulting in stress reduction. College students can begin exercising to overcome stress and decrease the adverse effects stressors cause on their lives. Physical exercises will enhance college students’ mental health enabling them to combat psychological distress. Exercising improves mental health enabling young people to enhance their well-being (Pascoe et al., 2020). Regular exercises improve fitness levels while enabling people to overcome stress. Exercising is a youth-friendly intervention that is acceptable and feasible for stress reduction. Exercising is also matched to young people’s needs enabling them to overcome recurring mental illnesses (Pascoe et al., 2020). As a result of continuous exercising, college students will promote their mental health by adopting positive beliefs and avoiding stressors that adversely affect their wellbeing.

The fourth option for managing college stress is student involvement in college club activities such as leadership and community service. College activities during the COVID-19 pandemic enabled college students to avoid stress (Wang et al., 2020). However, lifestyle, academic, and health concerns resulted in fear and worry among college students. This influenced the onset of stress that disrupted college students from focusing on their academic activities during the pandemic. College students who engage in club activities associate with peers to overcome depression and anxiety. College activities are strategies that students can use to prevent stress without involving professionals. College activities enable students to cope with stressful situations, resulting in stress management. College activities enhance interactions among students enabling them to overcome stressors contributing to unhappiness. Activities involving art, music, spirituality, and religion enable college students to manage stress (Wang et al., 2020).

The last option for managing college stress is practicing mindfulness. According to Bai et al. (2020), mindfulness training enables college students to realize stress management. College students must regularly observe mindfulness to enhance its effectiveness in stress reduction. Practicing mindfulness benefits college students as they are vulnerable to interpersonal and academic stressors. Mindfulness also enables college students to adopt acceptable behaviors ensuring they do not adopt maladaptive behaviors such as drug and substance use to manage stress (Bai et al., 2020). Mindfulness enables college students to avoid coping and maladaptive behaviors that promote health disorders. Meditation and mindfulness also enable college students to manage anxiety and stressors, making them hopeless. Learning meditation exercises enables college students to manage anxieties and avoid stressors leading to sadness (Bai et al., 2020). Therefore, mindfulness and meditation training is a promising strategy for stress management among college students.

Evaluation of Solution Options for the Stress College Students go through

Research studies propose various options for stress management, but most of them are ineffective and hence unlikely to benefit college students. An example of an effective solution for managing college stress is financial therapy. Colleges have counseling departments that provide professional counseling to students (White, 2020). Financial counseling is an example of a professional service counseling departments deliver to college students. Financial stress results in difficulties among students in settling in colleges and hinders them from committing efforts to prosper and realize education outcomes. Financial therapy or counseling enables college students to overcome financial stress by prioritizing effective means to use money. Therapists provide college students with financial knowledge, enabling them to track bills and spend money wisely (White, 2020). As a result of financial therapy, college students avoid financial stressors by adopting positive financial behaviors hindering them from not becoming stressed about college life.

Another effective solution for combating college stress is exercising. Pascoe et al. (2020) indicate that exercising is an efficient stress management tool enabling college students to engage in educational success. Exercising improves college students’ moods by boosting brain functioning. Low physical activity increases stress levels among college students (Chandra, 2020). Exercising is an effective strategy as college students can pursue this intervention for stress management without involving professionals. An exercise such as yoga enhances college students’ fitness and enhances emotional intelligence, which helps them cope with stress. College students overcome boredom, fear, and stress through exercises resulting in effective stress management (Chandra, 2020).

The last effective solution for combating college stress is student involvement in college activities. College activities alleviate boredom by instilling coping mechanisms among college students enabling them to overcome depressive thoughts (Wang et al., 2020). College students who engage in club activities are unlikely to face stress relapses as they are preoccupied with productive activities. Academic, political, and spiritual clubs help meet college students’ needs. Club activities promote positivity among college students by enabling them to undertake desired activities. Club activities fulfill college students’ innate needs by instilling happiness (Wang et al., 2020). This enables college students to engage in various college activities to overcome stressors contributing to sadness. Therefore, assessing stressors and implementing the most effective interventions results in effective stress management among college students.

References

Bai, S., Elavsky, S., Kishida, M., Dvo?áková, K., & Greenberg, M. T. (2020). Effects of mindfulness training on daily stress response in college students: Ecological momentary assessment of a randomized controlled trial. Mindfulness, 11(6), 1433-1445.

Chandra, Y. (2020). Online education during COVID-19: perception of academic stress and emotional intelligence coping strategies among college students. Asian Education and Development Studies.

Ishak, T., Torres, A., & Asan, O. (2020, September). Developing Technology-Enabled Solutions for College Students to Cope with Factors Leading to Health Problems. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care (Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 56-60). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

Pascoe, M., Bailey, A. P., Craike, M., Carter, T., Patten, R., Stepto, N., & Parker, A. (2020). Physical activity and exercise in youth mental health promotion: A scoping review. BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 6(1), e000677.

Wang, X., Hegde, S., Son, C., Keller, B., Smith, A., & Sasangohar, F. (2020). Investigating mental health of US college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Cross-sectional survey study. Journal of medical Internet research, 22(9), e22817.

White, K. J. (2020). Financial stress and the relative income hypothesis among Black college students. Contemporary family therapy, 42(1), 25-32.