Signs of Mental Strain and Ways to Cope with Stress while in an Educational Environment

Whether it’s exams or a huge presentation, school can be a very stressful place. It is important to take care of our mental health while we learn in order to ensure healthy balance. In this article, I will be detailing signs of mental strain and ways to cope with stress while in an educational environment.

1. Anxiety- When completing homework do you ever get so stressed that your palms are sweaty? This could be a sign of severe anxiety induced by a large workload. Often times during a week, we have so much we need to complete which can lead to feelings of intense stress and panic attacks. In order to work through this, it can be important to take a mental health day, practice breathing exercises, or use a calendar in order to keep yourself organized.

2. Depression- Sometimes during the week, our daily routine can feel extremely repetitive. Life might consist of going to school, extracurricular activities, and then straight to sleep, which could create a depressive state. A way to conquer depression during an academic week is to break the daily monotony of your schedule. This could include going to a restaurant, getting fresh air, or doing anything else unexpected. That way, when you return to your desk to do work, you will be newly refreshed and ready to conquer the day.

3. Fatigue- Often times when our brain is working hard, feelings of fatigue or exhaustion make it quite difficult to complete work. A way to counter this is to make sure to get a good night sleep every day. This is easier said than done, however, one strategy might be to set an alarm for when you should stop working for the day.

Being aware of these signs is extremely important. As humans we are always learning, however, I believe learning does not have to always be so stressful. Hopefully some of these strategies help readers conquer the daunting mental health challenges that academics inevitably brings.

-Kamari Carter