Stress as a University Student: Part 2

Everyone reacts to stress differently and will have their own method of coping and assessing the stressor. The signs and symptoms of stress, as well as different strategies to identify stress early on, are very important to being able to reduce its effects and improve your overall wellbeing. Below are some different tips and tricks to help you to recognize potential stress overload early on.

It’s important to identify possible symptoms of stress. Everyone reacts to different stressors in their own way. However, many general symptoms make it easier to identify the feeling of stress. Some of the most common symptoms are:

Physical

• Headache/stomach-ache
• Muscle tension
• Low energy
• Trouble sleeping
• Chest pain and rapid heart rate

Mental

• Anxiety and depression
• Lack of motivation
• Easily irritable and angry
• Feeling overwhelmed

Behavioural

• Excessive drug or alcohol use
• Over or under eating
• Less physically active
• Social withdrawal

Cognitive

• Difficulty concentrating
• Worrying
• Forgetful
• Unorganized

After you were able to identify some symptoms of stress in yourself, now try to identify potential sources that may be causing your stress. The root causes of stress can be due to any aspect of life, and some of the most common for university students during the pandemic are health concerns, overwhelming class work, relationship issues, exams and grades, finances, post-graduation, personal issues and many more.