Everyone experiences stress at some point in their life. Not all stress is necessarily bad. It is perfectly natural and an important part of life. This kind of stress is called eustress. However, stress in its negative forms or stress that continues for too long (distress), can affect your physical and mental health.
Life changes play
a large role in the amount of stress that one experiences. Increasing
your knowledge of stress and how it is perceived is an important part
of managing it. Therefore, the purpose of this section is to educate you
about stress and how to cope and manage the stress in your life.
Key points:
- The stress you experience is something that is largely under your control
- Stress can come from a range of different sources
- Short term stress
occurs where you find yourself under pressure in a particular situation
- A certain level of short term stress is needed to feel alert and alive
- Too much is unpleasant and can seriously damage performance
- Short term stress is best handled using mental or physical stress management techniques
- Long term stress
comes from a build up of stress over a long period
- Sustained high
levels can lead to serious physical and mental illness if not controlled
- Long term stress is best managed by changes to lifestyle, attitude and environment
- Sustained high
levels can lead to serious physical and mental illness if not controlled
- By using a stress diary you can monitor and understand the causes of stress in your life. The diary can help you to evaluate your performance under stress.
- Once you understand what is causing you stress, you can make an action plan for stress management. This gives you positive goals to work towards.
- Also getting enough sleep and healthy eating habits can help reduce stress.
- In addition, using our other study skills recommendations can help keep you on track and prevent stress before it starts!