Deadlines, piles of homework, pressure, high expectations, and testing all come with a lot of stress. Stress is unavoidable, especially for hard workers. Stress is something that affects everyone, and the students of North Point are no exception to this phenomenon. Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. Your nervous system releases stress hormones for emergency actions, which is dangerous and can lead to chronic stress. Common causes for stress are major life changes, work or school, relationship difficulties, being too busy, chronic worry, pessimism, rigid thinking, lack of flexibly, negative self-talk, unrealistic expectations/perfectionism, and having an all-or-nothing attitude. With stress being such a burden, some coping techniques would be useful to know.

A lot of serious problems can come from stress. Chronic stress alters other systems in the body. Sophomore Gabriel Dizon says that stress affects, “the hours of sleep he loses, the amount of food he doesn’t get to eat, time spent with his friends and family, and his weight fluctuation.” This demonstrates some of the effects of stress, like anxiety, weight issues, and sleep disruption. Dizon says some of the causes of his stress are his projects, homework, and tests from school and that in his opinion, “nobody can really handle stress” and he personally lets it “consume him.”

Junior Cameryn Dennis said that he also “lacks in sleep” and even “wakes up late for school” as well due to the stress of school work.  Things can start to get out of hand when it comes to students feeling lonely, overwhelmed; and agitated, which Dizon said he also experiences. However, there are students who don’t experience much chronic stress in their life. Sophomore D’mia Watson says that stress doesn’t affect her during school but, after school she does tend to “procrastinate and do some work last-minute.”

Stress for most people who have a lot to do in life is inescapable, especially if you’re a driven, devoted person. The important thing to learn is how to handle stress. There are many ways to combat and lower the effects of chronic stress. Some of the best ways to cope with stress are by exercising, eating healthier, trying to sleep properly, and finding a form of meditation if possible. Dizon deals with his stress by “watching television or playing video games” in his free time. Stress can be too much to deal with, especially for students as they move into adulthood, and when it does, talking to a parent or someone you trust can come in handy as well.