Causes and Signs of School Stress

Stress can be caused by all kinds of factors, both at school and at home and it can be a problem that will hound you for your entire life. That’s why it’s important to spot the stress signs and causes early. Common symptoms and signs of stress in school or college or university can include:

Effects of School and College Stress

You might have studied the “fight or flight response” in biology. Stress is a part of this in-built reaction to danger and produces changes in the body and brain designed to help you deal with immediate threats. However, long-term stress can cause all kinds of harmful effects on your body and mind, from increased blood pressure and risk of stroke to problems sleeping and higher risk of developing anxiety and depression.

Stress also has a negative effect on your ability to concentrate and work effectively. It reduces your ability to take in new info and affects your memory, as well as making you feel overwhelmed and less able to cope with the demands of life. All of this means that when assignments and exams make you stressed, that same stress actually reduces you ability to handle your work well and can make things much worse for you.

If you are regularly experiencing these symptoms then you should not ignore them. Tackling stress while you are at school will help you stay on top of your work and social life, protect you from harmful side effects and set you up with good coping strategies that will be useful later in life.

8 Suggestions for Stress Management at Schools and Colleges

Dealing with school stress is all about managing your time and looking after yourself properly. Here are 8 tips you can use to fight the effects of stress right now:

1. Start Homework Straight Away
2. Don’t Procrastinate
3. Start the Day Well
4. Break Up Big Tasks
5. Choose Who You Spend Time With
6. Watch How You Think
7. Ask For Help
8. Perspective

You can read all the above school and college stress management tips in more detail below.

1. Start Homework Straight Away

If you are dreading having to do a certain assignment or feel like you have too much homework to ever finish, it can be easier to avoid the problem and just put off doing it. But having something looming over you for days can seriously increase your stress levels. And if you leave things to the last minute you are more likely to rush them and do a bad job, which creates its own set of problems.

Is there a more effective way of dealing with work? Start any homework task the exact same night you get it, no matter what. You don’t have to finish everything in one go, but starting assignments is always the hardest part. Once you’ve made a start it’ll be way easier to come back and finish it later. Plus once you get into it you’ll probably see that it’s not as difficult as you feared.

2. Don’t Procrastinate

Work takes longer when you’re half working, half messing around on Facebook. Set proper boundaries- work is work, relaxing is relaxing. No middle ground. Switch off the TV, put your phone away, get out your books and get it done. Then you can relax.

3. Start the Day Well

Rolling out of bed five minutes before the bus arrives is a great way to get your day off to a stressful start. Getting to school without having had breakfast with your shirt on back to front and without half your school books isn’t going to do your mood any favours.

As hard as it is to get out of bed in the morning, a good routine will set you up to succeed for the rest of the day. Wake up in plenty of time to eat, pack your bag and get yourself ready. Arriving at school without being rushed off your feet will really help you feel more in control of your day.

4. Break Up Big Tasks

Mountains of homework or revision only seem un-climbable when you look at all of it at once. No one would try to climb Everest in one go, and you shouldn’t try to do everything in a single session.

Break up your tasks into little chunks. Give yourself a goal and work until a certain number of questions or tasks have been dealt with. Then go away and do something else. Slowly chipping away at the mountain is far easier than trying to tackle it all at once.

5. Choose Who You Spend Time With

Your friendship circle has a big impact on your environment and your mood. You can’t choose who you are in a class with but you can control over who you spend time with out of class. If your friends are constantly worrying or talking negatively, or if they encourage you to put off doing your work in favour of playing football, that’s not going to get you in the right frame of mind to avoid stress.

You don’t have to cut off your friends completely but if they’re stopping you working then maybe taking some time away from them at lunchtime to make a head start on homework isn’t a bad idea. And if your friends are constantly making you feel stressed and moody by dragging you into their problems then maybe they aren’t really your friends after all.

6. Watch How You Think

Your friends can have an impact on your stress levels, but so can your own thoughts. If your first thought when your teacher sets some homework is “how will I ever finish that? That’s so unfair!” then you are far more likely to stress about it than if you think “That’ll only take me an hour! No problem!”

Thinking more positively is like any other skill- you need to practice it. Watch hoe you react when trouble appears and try to think about it in more positive terms.

7. Ask For Help

As crazy as it might sound, your teachers want you to do well at school and can help you if you are struggling. If you really aren’t understanding something, or need more time on a certain assignment, let your teacher know and ask what they can do to help. It’s always better to tell people you are struggling than for them to find out the hard way when you don’t hand in homework on time.

A lot of schools have pastoral support or counsellors on hand to talk through problems you may be having. Sharing your stress or worries with your parents is also really helpful- getting things off your chest makes them seem much easier to deal with, and your parents might have their own tips and suggestions to help you manage.

8. Perspective

School isn’t the end of the world! There’s more to life than homework. Your worth as a human being is not determined by your end of year grades. Knowing that life goes on after the end of day bell rings is vital in keeping school stress in its proper place.

Study hard and take school seriously, but keep in your mind that if things do go badly, life goes on just fine. Enjoy activities out of school, hang out with your friends, get enough sleep and look after yourself regardless of whether you have homework due the next day or not.

Conclusion

Stress can make problems at school seem like a big deal. And high levels of stress can have a serious impact on your ability to work and stay healthy. Don’t ignore stress- start working through our 8 steps and learn to look after yourself properly. If you are still struggling, expert psychological counselling and stress management is available for young people, so don’t be afraid to ask your parents or a teacher for help.

When to Look for Professional Help to Manage Stress at School and Colleges!

Are you worried about any of the signs and symptoms listed above? Do you feel like pressures at school or college are affecting your work and home life? If so, our stress management specialist team is here for you. Supportive counselling can help you deal with stress by teaching you new ways of relaxing and helping you create a healthy lifestyle where stress cannot take hold. Contact Angus Munro Psychology for expert advice on dealing with stress at school.

Content References and Support Links:

Huffington Post – Academic Pressure: 5 Tips From An Expert On Coping With School Stress.

Anxiety Disorders in Children & Adolescents, 2nd edition, edited by Tracy L. Morris & John S. March.