Daniel Peria Fernandez Grade 11 - Dalton

Academic Stress : Stress or Is This Tres (3.00)?

"Happiness is a choice. You can choose to be happy. There's going to be stress in life, but
it's your choice whether you let it affect you or not." A famous author once said.
Academic stress is very common in every students’ life. Students are exposed to stress by
various factors. It directly affects their physical and mental aspects. When a student undergoes
stress, their ability to perform different academic task can be interfered regardless of what their
situation is. Stress in students can cause serious and harmful effects thus it is need to be
addressed and should be given attention.
One of the causes of academic stress is poor sleeping habits. Students who goes late at
night and lacks healthy rest time are more likely to develop stress. Social media, gaming
addiction and tons of school requirements are just some of the several factors why students
experienced sleep deficiency. Lack of sleep can limit the students’ ability to learn, concentrate
and think. This means that getting enough sleep is important because it allows the brain and the
body to relax and charge. According to studies, the ideal time of sleep for teenager students
should be at least 6-8 hours.
Another major cause of students stress is academic pressure. In school, teachers give
students assignments, projects and requirements that should be submitted on a strict deadline.
This enforce students to push themselves into their limits so that their desire to succeed
academically could come true. Family expectation and peer pressure also contributes to the
burden of students. They therefore feel so pushed that they even resort to dishonesty like
cheating so they could fulfill these high expectations.
One of the effects of academic stress is health and mental problems. High level of stress
could make students develop physical symptoms that could negatively affect their performance.
This include frequent headaches, stumbling stomach, chest pain and nervous habits. When
students experienced these symptoms, they may not be able to properly execute their academic
task. Moreover, stress can also lead to serious mental health problems like depression and
suicidal thoughts. Nowadays, these are the leading cause of death among students. People who
experienced these things thinks that suicide is the best option to end their heavy burdens.
Stress also make students to have poor management skill. Students become disorganized
and is uncertain with their priorities and goals. Furthermore, this could make them incapable of
properly budgeting their time. Lacks of prioritization leads to last minute rush in meeting set
deadlines for task and assignments. This negatively impacts their quality of academic work and
study skills.
High stress levels could also further lead to self-defeating thoughts. Students under stress
always see the negative side of their situation. They focus more with their weaknesses and
failures rather than with their strengths and achievements. This thoughts destroy students’ self-
esteem and can change the way they behave. As a result, students will lack confidence in their
abilities and this will negatively impact their performance in school since they cannot perform to
their highest potential.
Stress in students cause serious negative effects, both physical and academic. Students
may experience stress due to poor sleeping habits and academic pressure. Students need enough
sleep and less pressure for their brain to relax and recharge for it to function well. As has been
seen, high stress levels could lead to physical symptoms, poor management skills, and self-
defeating thoughts among students. Parents and teachers should work together in ensuring that
students do not experience much stress because it is not good for their health and academic
ability. In addition, we should all work together towards a humane society where no student
should die from depression.