News Brief by Kanika Kamal
Once the
semester gets into full swing, it’s hard to avoid the stress piling up
around you. Sometimes the amount of work we have can send us into a panic,
making us scramble to meet deadlines and causing us to lose sleep (and
sometimes even weight). Not only is chronic stress a nuisance, but it can also
have detrimental health effects, such as increasing the chance of heart
attacks. So, how can students combat chronic stress? According to Science News, the following six
things can help counteract the effects of stress:
1.
Yoga and Tai
Chi: Thinking positive thoughts, clearing your mind, and focusing on your
breathing has been shown to lower blood pressure and help unwind stress at both
the molecular and clinical levels.
2. Meditation: Meditation has been shown
to help fight off infections, such as the cold and flu. For example, a recent
study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison showed that participants who
practiced 2.5 hours of meditation a week took less sick days for respiratory illness
than those who did not meditate.
3. Real-Time Monitoring: Monitoring your
stress levels, such as by carrying monitors that measure heart rates, can help
make us more aware of the stress we face and can encourage us to take a couple
minutes to breathe and cool down. A study at the University of Calgary had
doctors, members of a high-stress profession, monitor their stress levels. They found that at the end of the four week period, the doctors’ stress levels
had dropped substantially when compared to the control.
4. Parenting Classes: Stress not only
comes from your actions, but also from the environment around you. Studies have
shown that giving parents training classes can help reduce stress in their
children. These classes have created less harsh, more consistent parents, and
as a result, has made it so that their children had lower levels of stress as they
grew older.
5. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Cognitive
Behavior Therapy (CBT) is an important part of treatment for people with anxiety and
depression. It works by helping change their frames of thinking from negative to
positive, giving them the skills to cope. But, CBT does not only benefit people
with mental illness. Changing your framework of thinking from self-destructive
to more positive can help people cope with stress and improve the body’s
health. In fact, CBT has shown to boost the body’s immune response to viruses.
6. Pets: Finally, everyone knows that dogs
are man’s best friends, but studies have shown that these friendly companions
can actually decrease stress in humans.
Following these six tips, or at least trying out a few, could
lower your stress levels and help you lead a healthier, happier lifestyle. So,
it’s worth a shot!
Seppa, Nathan. "Six Ways to Beat Chronic Stress." Science News. Science News, 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. .
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