Students have to deal with normal stressors like balancing schoolwork with social life while minding their physical and mental health. Students also have to handle part-time or full-time jobs all at the same time.
These already seem a lot, but the coronavirus pandemic hit, which increased loneliness, stress, anxiety, depression, and the feeling of uncertainty about the future of their education.
What’s more, during the pandemic, students can’t hang out with their friends to relax and destress. They’re stuck indoors, experiencing difficulties interacting with their classmates and making new friends.
This is why it’s important to practice ways to manage academic anxiety in students and cope with anxiety and stress in our daily lives.
Here are 8 healthy ways to manage academic stress in students at home:
- Maintain A “New Normal” Routine
The pandemic abruptly changed everyone’s lifestyles and routines which negatively affected the students’ emotional and mental health. Get back on track by keeping a routine that’s somewhat similar to what you would have if you’re back on campus.
This includes:
- Setting up an alarm to wake up at the same time every weekday
- Maintaining hygiene as you would before going to school
- Eating three meals a day
- Writing down goals and seeing through them
- Watch What You Eat
It’s not just about eating three meals a day, these meals should also be healthy to help maintain both your mental and physical well-being. Because what we eat mostly affects how we feel, it’s important to watch the nutritional value of the food we eat to help manage stress and anxiety.
2. Do At-Home Exercises
As part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle despite being stuck at home, there are various workout routines you can do. Doing cardiovascular exercises may help you manage academic anxiety. It’s important to pay attention to your heath and invest in workout equipment as seen on this site.You may alsotry including:
- Sit-Ups
- Crunches
- Planks
- Squats
- Lunges
- Squat Jumps
- Classic Jumping Jacks
- Jogging In Place
3. Relax
Take a break from studying and doing coursework by:
- Going to your happy place – Visualizing a place or event that makes you happy.
- Relaxing your muscles by stretching – Starting with making a fist with your hands then slowly opening your fingers. Continue tensing and releasing other muscle groups like your neck, shoulders, arms, down to your feet.
- Counting – Close your eyes and start counting from 1-10 or even through 20. Keep counting until you feel your anxiety easing away.
- Staying present – This means calming your thoughts down when they start racing and focusing on the task at hand.
- Taking up a new hobby – You can also revisit old hobbies that you neglected due to your busy schedule.
4. Sleep
Most people know that sleep affects their mental, physical, and emotional state.
Sufficient sleep, especially REM sleep, helps the brain process emotional information. Studies show that lack of sleep is especially harmful in consolidating positive emotional content. This is how getting enough sleep positively affects an individual’s mood and emotional reactivity and how the lack of sleep is associated with mental health disorders and the risk of suicidal tendencies.
5.Limit Caffeine Intake
The FDA (U.S. Food and Drugs Administration) sets 400 milligrams of caffeine as a safe daily caffeine intake. This amounts to four cups or 32 ounces of coffee.
While coffee is consumed to feel energized, excessive caffeine consumption may worsen symptoms in individuals already prone to anxiety.
Limit your caffeine intake and if you suspect that caffeine is negatively affecting your anxiety, carefully observe the symptoms, and decrease your caffeine intake accordingly.
6. Stay Connected
Add checking in with your loved ones in your daily routine. Be it through text, chat, or phone calls. Use social media to stay updated with your friends and family members, but make sure to keep the balance between your online and offline activities.
7. Seek Professional Advice
Speaking with a mental health professional will help you better understand the causes of your anxiety and how you can manage them. You’ll also likely learn about mental health services you can explore and find the ones that will work for you.
While the pandemic also made access to face-to-face mental health care more difficult for most students, there are virtual mental health services students can reach out to even from their homes.
Seeking professional advice can also help recognize physical symptoms of anxiety that you may be experiencing, including:
- Headache
- Stomach pain or digestive issues
- Nausea
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Increased heart rate
- Rapid breathing or shortness of breath
- Trembling
- Muscle tension
