The end of the semester is approaching, and quicker than it may seem. Finals week is known to be the epitome of stress for all college students; your last chance to bring up your grade after a trying semester. However, despite the stress that you may feel, it’s important to recognize signs of stress and self-care activities that you can use to help yourself feel better. When I think about possible sources of stress, I find it easy to categorize them into mental, emotional, and physical stressors to best understand what I need to do for stress relief.
As a disclaimer, I am not a mental health professional. These are techniques that I have learned through experiencing my own stressors and talking to peers around me. If you are feeling stressed in a way that makes you feel out of control or would like more help, please talk to a health professional for guidance.
Mental Stress
This is the most common form of stress that people experience in relation to academics. Mental stress is when your brain feels tired, either from trying to absorb too much information or thinking too much. I often feel mentally stressed when I have spent hours looking at a particular subject in the library or writing one research paper. Signs of mental stress are when you feel your brain not functioning as quickly or you have trouble formulating your thoughts. It is super common during finals week because you’re spending time reviewing mass amounts of information or writing multiple papers.
When I’m experiencing mental stress, I’ve found that the best strategies are to do activities when you can turn your brain “off.” The most common way to do this is to move your body; I enjoy going for walks and I know that some of my friends like to go for a run or go to the gym. If I am feeling lazy but I need some time to mentally reset, I will also try to clean, tidy up my space, or take a long shower to try to clear my thoughts. I find that these methods help my brain relax and reset so that I can have more effective studying time without overwhelming myself.
Emotional Stress
Emotional stress is often confused with mental stress, but I think they are quite different. Emotional stress is when you feel intense emotions, whether that be you feel the need to cry or scream or laugh. This can coincide with mental stress, (maybe you feel stressed about an assignment so you feel sad), but it doesn’t necessarily have to. Many people feel emotional stress when something happens in their life; maybe a fight with a loved one, an event in the day, or even just something that someone tells you. I find that people tend to feel more emotionally stressed around finals week because they’re already mentally stressed, so any small emotional problem incites a larger stress response.
When I’m feeling emotionally stressed, I find doing an activity that grounds me is the most important. I tend to talk to my friends or family since I like to be around others and that makes me feel more at home. Other activities I like to do are reading an old book or re-watching a favorite movie. I also think hobbies or fun activities can improve our moods; for example, I like to bake cupcakes or get a latte. By doing these smaller acts of self-care, it’s easier to maintain a healthy mental stress level and prevent feeling overwhelmed.
Physical Stress
Physical stress can be thought of in two ways; either your body is stressed from doing exercise or your body is stressed from holding tension. Exercise, through either the gym or other activities, can cause your muscles to become sore. It’s important that when this happens, you give your body time to heal and rest. If you’re overwhelmed by finals week and aren’t allowing your body to get enough rest, your body won’t be able to heal as fast and will be more susceptible to illness. I find that a lot of the time, people take their stress out in the gym and then don’t allow their bodies the full time to rest, which leads them to have stressors in other aspects of their lives. To prevent this, make sure that when you do physical exercise, you’re varying your exercises and resting your body.
Even if you don’t work out, you can still exhibit physical stress. A lot of people hold stress in different parts of their bodies, which can lead to pain. The most common places to “hold” stress are in your face, neck, and shoulder muscles. A way to alleviate this pain is to do breathing exercises. One of my favorites is when you lay down and breathe in and out, picturing the tension leaving your body each time you breathe out. There are also guided meditations that help you release the tension. Another similar breathing technique tells you to release tension in each part of your body as you breathe out, eventually allowing you to reach complete relaxation. This type of physical stress can also be reduced through yoga which allows you to move your body in a low-impact way.
No matter what type of stress you are experiencing, remember to take time for yourself through self-care and manage your stress levels. You can’t do your best if you don’t feel your best, so making sure that your mind is sharp and your body is healthy is the most important way to ace your finals. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and none of these techniques are helping, remember that it’s okay to ask for help from a professional.