Frequently Asked Questions About Stress

What is stress?

Stress is a reaction that people have in response to events that they perceive threaten or challenge them. In other words, stress is a response to change. These threats or challenges can be positive or negative, but that all depends on the individual and his or her perceptions of stress. Moderate stress can improve performance, too much stress can impair performance, and too little stress can lead to decreased motivation. A useful way to think about stress is to break up the term into stressors and stress responses. Stressors are sources of stress such as making decisions, work deadlines, or finals. Stress responses are psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions to stressors. Anxiety, depression, concentration difficulties, and muscle tension are all examples of stress responses. We experience stress as we readjust our lives.

What are the symptoms of stress?

Stress can affect your physical body, emotions, and cognition. You may experience some or all of the following stress symptoms:

Physical Symptoms:

• muscular tension
• colds or other illnesses
• high blood pressure
• indigestion
• diarrhea
• ulcers
• difficulty sleeping
• fatigue
• headaches
• backaches
• pounding heart
• Stomach queasiness

Emotional Symptoms:

• irritability
• depression
• anger
• fear or anxiety
• feeling overwhelmed
• mood swings

Cognitive Symptoms:

• forgetfulness
• unwanted or repetitive thoughts
• difficulty concentrating
• nightmares

What's the optimal level of stress?

There is no correct level of stress. People have different ways and abilities of coping with situations, and each of us has our own needs, values, and skills.

Most illness is related to unrelieved stress. If you are experiencing stress symptoms, you have gone beyond your optimal stress level; you need to reduce the stress in your life and/or improve your ability to manage it.

How can I eliminate stress from my life?

Simply, you can't! Life is full of challenges and new experiences; there will be situations where you will have to make tough decisions. Whether it is about choosing which cereal to eat in the morning or which graduate school to go to, you will encounter stress. So, your goal should not be to eliminate stress, but to learn how to manage it and learn how to use it to your advantage.

How can I manage stress better?

Become aware of your stressors and your emotional and physical reactions.

• Notice your stress. Don't ignore it.
• Determine what specific events distress you.
• Determine how your body responds to the stress. Do you become nervous or physically upset? Angry or withdrawn? Be specific about what happens.

Recognize what you can change.

• Identify which stressors you can change or eliminate.
• For those stressors you cannot eliminate, you can reduce their intensity or shorten your exposure to them. For example, you can take break or leave the physical premises.
• It is important to note that you must devote the time and energy necessary to making a change. Goal setting, time management techniques, and delayed gratification strategies may be helpful.

Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress.

• Stress is triggered by your perception of danger — physical danger and/or emotional danger. Are you viewing your stressors in exaggerated terms and/or taking a difficult situation and making it a disaster? Are you expecting to please everyone?
• Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you can cope with rather than something that overpowers you.

Learn to moderate your physical reactions to stress.

• Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate and respiration back to normal.
• Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension.
• Medications, when prescribed by a physician, can help in the short term in moderating your physical reactions. However, they alone will not solve your stress issues. Learning to moderate these reactions on your own is a preferable long-term solution.

Build your physical reserves.

• Exercise for cardiovascular fitness regularly.
• Consider acupuncture, massage, yoga, and other forms of holistic healthcare to boost energy reserves and decrease stress.
• Eat well-balanced, nutritious meals.
• Avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine, and other stimulants.
• Have a good balance between leisure and work.
• Get enough sleep. Be as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible.

Maintain your emotional reserves.

• Develop some mutually supportive friendships.
• Pursue realistic goals that are meaningful to you, rather than goals others have for you that you do not share.
• Expect some frustrations, failures, and sorrows.

I'd like to speak to a counselor about my stress will our conversation be confidential?

You can call the hotline anonymously. We will not ask for your name unless, through the course of the conversation, we determine that it is necessary. If you do decide to tell a counselor your name, we will keep your personal information confidential. Counselors and staff will not share this information with any other offices within the University or release it to individuals outside the University without your written permission. The exceptions are in response to a court order, as required by law (including certain situations relating to public health and child abuse), or in cases of an immediate threat to your safety or to the safety of someone else.