Breanna Swiech ‘26, Feature Editor
With midterms coming faster than ever, student stress and burn-outs are becoming more common across the student body. However, stress does not just pop up around midterm season; looming end of year exams, seasonal affective disorder from the winter weather, and navigating relationships with family and friends as a teen can also cause concerning amounts of stress. As students bear a concerning amount of academic pressure and loads of schoolwork—stress placed upon every move, every answer—their stress increases drastically throughout the day. Among college students, stress has increased 30 percent throughout the past decade, and 60 percent of all students report feeling stressed daily. Despite this problem not being on the forefront of most people’s minds or the most pressing problem in today’s society, it can have dire consequences.
Stress is known to influence sleep disorders, headaches, high blood pressure, anxiety, and depression. It also can cause irritation, fatigue, and emotional withdrawal, which could stain relationships with family, friends, and significant others. Senior Lauren MacDonald feels the pressure that comes with her rigorous course schedule: “stress… leaves me more reserved while also feeling very tired.” Students trying to balance social life, work, and extracurriculars, all with the teetering weight of academic pressure, are often spread thin and unable to relax and recharge without designated time to do so.
There is one thing most students are lacking, and there is no doubt that it has a negative influence on stress levels: sleep. It is well known that sleep can reduce tension because it gives a person’s mind a break from everyday living. However, finding the time and getting the proper eight hours of sleep is difficult, especially with students’ busy schedules. There is not an easy solution to this, but it does not mean getting more sleep is not necessary to the general student who stays up to midnight completing homework, only to wake up at six the next morning and repeat the cycle again.
Despite the persistent stress that students must face, there are strategies that can help alleviate its impact on overall health and well being. It is common to assume that relaxation and spending time alone can help manage pressure, and it can, as long as students are conscious of how they choose to relax. While bundling up in a blanket on the couch while scrolling through social media sounds peaceful, this will not help manage stress long-term because news and social media are known to snowball the effects of stress and pressure. If students want a break from stress and schoolwork, sometimes they can just sit and relax, they should pick up a book or listen to music instead of scrolling through social media.
Similar to listening to music and reading, there are many other hobbies and activities that are known to reduce stress. One activity that had been known to help reduce stress is baking. Baking is a no screens, hands-on activity that allows people to be creative and make mistakes without huge consequences—burned cookies are not the end of the world. Additionally, it forces a person’s focus to center on what is in front of them instead of splitting their minds into different directions and trying to multitask. Problems can fade into the background and be dealt with at a different time, but it is important to find time to wind down after a long day. Senior Chole Evans said, “I think you are just enjoying what you are doing at that moment and there is not a thought about school.” Junior Lilah Birdyshaw added, “It’s very easy to forget what’s stressing you out when there is cookie dough in front of you.” Other forms of creativity such as painting, crocheting, and playing an instrument, have similar effects that are beneficial to mental health.
Furthermore, getting outside is also beneficial to mental health. This is a common, well-known solution, but for a good reason. Hiking, camping, or just staring at the clouds can improve mood and reduce stress. The National Parks Service supports “green exercise” which is being active in a “green space—a space with rocks, trees, sand, mud, dirt, grass, plants, and sky.” Soothing greens, a calming breeze, and warm sun can help individuals decompress, live in the moment, and leave their stress behind.
Lyon Life 