Deadlines piling up? Wondering how to afford your next food shop? Feeling unsure about what’s next after uni? If any of this sounds familiar, you’re definitely not alone. As students, we deal with stress in many forms – and during Stress Awareness Week, it’s the perfect time to talk about it.
What is Stress Awareness Week?
Stress Awareness Week takes place every year in early November and is all about recognising the impact of stress on our mental health. This year, it runs from 1–7 November and focuses on emotional management — a topic that’s become even more important post-pandemic.
What kind of stress do students experience?
Student life can be exciting, but it also come with challenges. Here are the most common types of stress that affect students at the University of Reading and beyond:
- Academic Pressures – This is the most obvious type of stress to affect us as students. This stress can be heightened surrounding deadlines, presentations, or exams. But it is important to note that this stress can be present all year round with general feelings of overwhelmingness surrounding workload.
- Financial Struggles – This type of stress is becoming increasingly more common given the current cost of living crisis and it is affecting students on a widespread level.
- Uncertainty of the Future – This is a common type of stress that upcoming graduates may face throughout the year. This is categorised around worrying about what will happen next. For instance, many students be wondering where they will go after
- University – a job, further education, time out etc.
- Work/Life Balance – Some students may have a lot of responsibilities to balance with their studies (e.g., work, childcare, health struggles etc.) which can create added anxiety and stress in their daily lives.
If you dealing with any of these, hopefully you can find some sense of comfort in knowing that many (if not most) students will deal with these issues on a weekly or even daily basis as well, so you are not alone in your stress.
Managing your stress
As a student, I have definitely experienced these different types of stress and I have learnt how to handle it better.
The best thing I did to manage my stress was to join in with some of the free LifeTools webinars, which the University offer. A particular one that has stuck with me was the ‘managing perfectionism’ webinar I attended in my first year. This is because at the time, perfectionism (falling under the heading of academic pressures) was my biggest battle. During the webinar I learnt many tips and tricks to manage perfectionism which enabled me to use some of the traits that characterise perfectionists to my benefit. The session was also very comforting because everyone else there was struggling with the same thing as me, which was a massive help in reducing my stress levels in itself.
Remember that you are not alone in your stress and that there are always people and tools available to help you.
If you feel like you need support managing stress, check out our blog on useful contacts and resources to help you manage and reduce stress.
Written by Bethany Collyer