Stress, how do you cope?

It's that time again, the end of the semester is here, and Albright as a whole is feeling the toll. Both professor and student alike are putting their time in to get in work, and to get it done well with plenty of other responsibilites which also need taking care of. The time is winding down, and there are last projects to prepare, final exams to take, and presentations to make before the time is truly over, so of course there is a level of stress which comes along with all of these responsiblilities. But what is stress? What affects can it have on us? How can we handle it, and get our work done in a more peaceful manner?
Bad stress, or distress can occur from any long standing condition, intense trauma, or any series of events over time. How you cope with this will have either a negative or positive effect on you physical or psychological health.
The signs of stress are physical, emotional, behavioral, or cognitive. Fatigue, nausea, headaches, chills, muscle tremors, chest pain, or fainting are all physical reactions to stress. The emotional side gives off feelings of anxiety, denial, fear, shock, depression, guilt, severe panic, or intense anger. The cognitive aspect makes you blame others, make poor decisions, causes confusion, memory problem, poor attention, and poor concentration. Behavior is changed because of stress, there is a change in activity, emotional outbursts, antisocial acts, change in sexual functioning, alcohol consumption, pacing, and erratic movements.
"Stress starts acute, but if you don't handle the small things it can turn into more chronic problems," says Dr. Susan Hughes, a psychology professor here at Albright College, "Too much stress can mess with your immune system, which would make you more susceptible to getting sick, your mood can become more negative, your views on situations becomes more negative, and you become short-tempered with others."
Stress, however, can be dealt with. There is an extensive list with helpful tips on how one can deal with stress can be found on medicinenet.com/stress.
Taking care of yourself is a crucial component to managing stress, eating a well-balanced diet, getting plenty of rest, setting up stages of relaxation, and maintaining a regular schedule can decrease the amount of stress you feel. How you treat others can also affect how stressed you feel. Medicinenet encourages people who are dealing with stress to spend time with others, and to talk to people, forgetting your support group can add on to the feelings of stress.
Dr. Hughes has her own system to combat her stress, "Sleep," she says, "Don't sacrifice sleep, it will only contribute to your stress. Try putting things into perspective, realize who and what your stressors are and deal with them individually. Take time to do the things that you find relaxing, even if you feel like you don't have time to do it."
Keeping all these things in mind, it is very possible for Albright students, and professors to do the work required of them in a peaceful manner, and in order.