Mental Health: Stress Levels and How We Can Manage Them
It wasn’t so long ago, late last semester when final projects and exams closed in all around us. Remember the deadlines, papers, and stress? As we move along this semester, we still have time to remember that caring for ourselves (body and mind) is important. There are a few ways that you can deal with the stress from all the work and one of them is mindfulness at NU-Q. With any topic concerning our well-being, it is critical for us to understand where this all stems from and what we can do about it. Here are suggested links to articles that offer a few ways for you to prepare for and handle the pressure:
- Stress Management by Lawrence Robinson, Melinda Smith, and Robert Segal.
HelpGuide released a list of tips that tackle stress in our day to day lives. It is important to know that you can take charge of your anxieties, and this article provides a technique of following the four A’s of stress management: Avoid, Alter, Adapt, Accept.
- 16 Simple Ways to Relieve Stress and Anxiety by Kerri-Ann Jennings.
This Healthline article provides easy, every-day things that you can do to relieve pressure. You don’t always need a major alteration in your life to take care of your mental health. By reducing your caffeine intake, for example, or choosing healthier meal options, the everyday small stuff can prepare you to take on a task better.
- How stress affects your body by Sharon Horesh Bergquist.
This video explains through animation how stress impacts us physically in various ways. Stress is different for everyone, and understanding what the impacts are on your body can help us and inspire us to navigate ways to reduce the worries.
- Stress Can Make You Sick. Take Steps to Reduce It by Anahad O’Connor.
This article in the New York Times talks about Dr. Rangan Chatterjee’s new book “The Stress Solution,” which addresses the impact of chronic stress on our vulnerability to disease. While emphasizing the major effects this could have, the book also presents realistic solutions. For example, some people need to learn to switch off from their social media or smartphones for a while to avoid feelings of anxiousness.
- Six tactics to help your students deal with stress by Carrie Starbuck.
This one’s for you, professors! You can help your students and help yourself by talking about and encouraging students to watch out for their mental health. The article in The Guardian emphasizes the importance of educating students about stress and ways to help them deal with it. Taking care of your stress levels is important too for a better classroom environment.
