How to Cope with Stress as a Student

As if students didn’t have enough stress before, the internet has opened door to more anxiety for young students than ever before. Whether it’s unattainable standards of beauty or the pursuit of being the best at everything, millennials suffer immense burden of having it all. Behind the façade of social media, every teen has his or her own insecurities but it’s hard to see through perfectly filtered photos of your peers looking great and having the time of their life. The fact is that everyone has ups and downs but most teens are ashamed of sharing their insecurities to their peers. Some have succumbed to the traps of substance abuse while others inflict themselves in an attempt to silence their noisy minds and attain some level of peace.

The first thing to know is you’re not alone! The second thing to know is that if you are equipped with coping mechanisms, you’ll be better prepared to handle your tensions that cloud your mind. Here are five things the team at URstore believe can make a difference to how well you’re able to handle stress.

1. Diet
As the old adage goes, ‘A good diet makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise.’ And the health it is referring to is not just physical but also mental. Add a good amount of green leafy vegetables in your diet because they are rich in folate and that help produce uplifting hormones such as dopamine and serotonin. Ensuring your metabolism is running at a healthy pace and you’re getting all the key nutrients will be instrumental in keep stress at bay.

2. Exercise
Exercise has a number of benefits but in the context of stress, what exercise does is it helps produce a feel-good hormone known as endorphins. Once you add some light exercise to your daily routine and see the benefits, you’ll never go back to a sedentary lifestyle.

3. Time management
You have to see time management as a tool to combat stress because it does. Use your smartphone, computer or a planner to organize your tasks by the week. The key to getting more work done is to do it early on in the day when you’re still fresh.

4. Seeking help when needed
Knowing when to seek help and whom to reach out to is crucial. Most people seek help when they reach a melting point yet the same help can be much more effective if it’s sought early on. Take some time to find the resources in your school, library and community that aid in coping with stress.

5. Seeing the big picture
No assignment or grade is important enough that you should worry yourself endlessly about it. Recognize your strengths and opportunities and learn what works for you in times of crisis.