Volume: 59 Issue: 22
driftwood.uno.edu
APRIL 13, 2016
STRESS SEASON Study shows academics cause most stress for students BY NIGEL WASHINGTON Editor-in-Chief “Study tip: laminate your notes so the tears roll off,” one Yik-Yak user said on UNO’s hottest Yaks section. This was just one of many posts comment-
ing on how stressful and depressed students feel during the most important time of the semester. Final exams, final grades and preparing for the next school year or life after college are all thoughts sprinting through the minds of young adults on all campuses across the country. With the school year winding down, the final few weeks of the semester have proven to be the most stressful time of the year for the most stressed group of people on the planet. The American College Health Association (ACHA) conducted a survey of respondents to evaluate the overall health of college students, which include stress and anxiety levels. Within the last 12 months, 43 percent of college students admitted experiencing above average stress .Competing against multiple factors like sickness (cold and flu), working and finances, 30 percent of students also said that stress was the biggest factor in negative academic results. The second and third most com-
mon factors were anxiety (23.7 percent) and sleep difficulties (20.4 percent). All three of these elements work together to drastically reduce students’ moods and their grades. While students nationwide deal with varying levels of stress throughout the school year, exam time and the moments leading up to it seem to show the highest levels of stress. “It’s hard to say whether [stress peaks] in the middle of exams or the time leading up to it,” said Dr. Elliott Beaton, an assistant professor in the Psychology department and director of the Stress, Cognition and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) laboratory at UNO, which studies stress and the effects it has on brain development, brain function and behavior with chil-
dren and young adults — including UNO students. “It’s a culmination. You have students who may be anxious for exam time before it even happens, and then they’re in the middle of it and
Trumping other possible options like the death of a family member or friend (15.6 percent) and intimate relationships (29.7 percent), 44 percent of students named academics as the toughest thing to handle,. In any time within the last 12 months, 85 percent of students admitted feeling overwhelmed by all of their obligations, 47.8 percent felt hopeless and 35 percent felt so depressed that it was difficult to function. Despite the study showing schoolwork is the main culprit of stress among college students and that stress can reach very high levels, Beaton doesn’t believe easier exams or academic workload will help students. “I think tests aren’t that hard. I don’t think we help our students by
“It’s a culmination. You have students who may be anxious for exam time before it even happens, and then they’re in the middle of it and they are anxious in the middle of it wondering how things are going to turn out.” - Dr. Elliott Beaton they are anxious in the middle of it wondering how things are going to turn out.” Based on the results of the ACHA study, academics are the biggest reason for stress, depression and anxiety for college students.
dumbing tests down,” Beaton said. Instead of making tests easier or making a lighter workload, students should try to practice positive coping mechanisms to deal with stress and avoiding negative coping mechanisms, like drug use or practicing bad lifestyle habits. Students claimed difficulty sleeping was another factor of negative academic performance (20.4 percent), behind only stress and anxiety (23.7 percent). In the study, 43.7 percent of students felt tired and sleepy three to five days of the week. Dr. Beaton said lack of sleep actually increases stress levels while decreasing attention span and mood, making the late night cram a pipe dream. Around exam time, anticipatory stress is a common reason of difficult sleeping. “When you’re really anxious about something it can be really hard to sleep, or when you’re really anxious about something, people will sleep to try and avoid those things,” Beaton said. With stress, drug-abuse is a likely companion, giving the user a sense of relief. Dr. Jeremy Peres, a post-doctoral counselor at the UNO Counseling Center, says drugs are not an effective answer to your problems.
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