By Cory Alexandria
With the ability to engage in activities such as exercise, reading, and spending time with friends, some students have found these outlets to be crucial in decompressing from their vast stress.
Susan Krauss Whitbourne of Psychology Today said that chronic stress can negatively affect the maintenance of bodily functions, such as the ability to avoid injury. This cycle of stress has the potential to be broken through extended breaks and vacations.
Whitbourne claims that vacation gives the individual the chance to gain a new perspective on their problems and break their routine in a beneficial way. She also claims that the individual can emerge as someone who is ready for the world.
When unable to take a full vacation, a collective review of research from the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences found that activities such as yoga can improve emotional, physical, mental, and behavioral health, especially in a school setting.
Yoga was cited as effective in the destressing process as it was documented through 47 publications, with 85% of elementary schools whose programs were implemented within the curriculum, as well as another 62% who implemented school-based programs.
According to Kirty Saxena, the director of the Pediatric Bipolar Disorders Program at the Texas Children’s Hospital, the stress levels at which students are at have affected their mental health. Saxena told Texas Medical Center News that many mental disorders are a result of this stress.
Nikita Vasudevan, a law student and librarian at American University, said taking a break to engage in simple activities such as watching YouTube videos and reading the news is helpful as her work becomes tedious and overwhelming.
“I once heard that for every 30 minutes of studying, take a five to ten minute break,” Vasudevan said. “I’ve always been bad at doing that, but I’ve gotten used to taking small, short breaks.”
As a full time staff member at American University and a part time graduate student, Gabriella Calderon does not get the same breaks as other students, but she does use the the little time she has in order to disconnect from her work and stress. She urged others to do this as well.
“A lot of students are stressed and put too much stress on themselves,” Calderon said. “It’s okay to take an hour a day to focus on yourself.”