Stress Management for High School Students

By: Verda A.

If you’re like me and take more than a handful of AP and Honors classes, you’ll understand me when I say this: the stress of it all can get to be overbearing. Just looking at your book bag when you come home from a day at school (or logging into Blackboard to see your assignments) makes your head spin and your knees shake. Stress is by no means fun. It’s serious business. According to a 2007 report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), too much work and too little play for children and teens could backfire down the road. "Colleges are seeing a generation of students entering who appear to be manifesting increased signs of depression, anxiety, perfectionism and stress," the report says. We can stop ourselves from experiencing these symptoms. There is a way to manage stress now so we’re prepared when we go to college. The following stress management exercises are extremely helpful, and I personally use them on a daily basis.

1.       Take a “breath” from your work. It’s important to step away and breathe in order to regain focus or solve problems. Every student should take time to breathe, and pay attention to their breathing in order to relax their nerves.

2.       Work out. Exercising improves blood flow to your brain, bringing additional sugars and oxygen that will be of aid when you’re thinking intensely. It also speeds the removal of the toxic waste products in your brain that cause foggy thinking. So get up and start doing some jumping jacks or push-ups! It can’t hurt!

3.       Do something you enjoy. This can be:

v      a hobby, such as writing in your journal or playing soccer.

v      playing with your pet.

v      doing arts and crafts.

v      volunteer work.

4.       Let your feelings out. Cry. Laugh. Scream. Talk. Expressing your feelings (in whatever fashion you like) can take a big load off your chest and relax your muscles.

5.       Focus on what’s going on now. Stop insanely worrying about that assignment due in a couple of weeks or that college interview you have the next month. I’m not saying you shouldn’t worry about future events. That’s good. You should be thinking about your future. But focus on things piece by piece--don’t take on all assignments at full force. So put more energy into that assignment due in your online class in a couple of hours or the project you have to present in class tomorrow. Just focus on the present.

Stress is our enemy, but we can only defeat it with smart tactics. Don’t sit there and let stress conquer your mind and body. Do something. Fight back. Only then will you win your battle against stress.