Stressors can come in many different forms. Stress can come from relationships, midterms or getting caught in traffic.

“There are times when stress affects physical health as well as emotional and social behaviors,” Michael Braun, professor of psychology, said.

“There are also many cases when people are unaware of what exactly their stressor is,’ Braun said, “What helps is to figure out what’s going on (causing the stress).”

Marilu Delarosa, an 18-year-old photography major, said she started experiencing pains in her back and later realized that the pains were caused by stress.

“I’d never had a back pain before,” she said.

Delarosa began studying yoga and read about tensions and pains being caused by events happening in her life.

She said she takes yoga class to thelp prevent the stress.

Braun said that exercise, relaxation and meditation are helpful ways to relieve stress.

He also said guided imagery, which is thinking about something pleasant and a change in attitude, can help.

“We interpret the world,” Braun said. “We are the ones who decide what something is going to mean to us.”

Stress factors

As for the causes of stress, Braun said that students often stress over how they perform in their classes, problems in relationships and financial problems.

Angela Simon, professor of psychology, said there are two categories of stressors.

One of them would be major life events, which include positive things like marriage and pregnancies, as well as negative events like the death of a loved one.

The other category is daily hassles.

“Sometimes people will react to everyday hassles as if it’s a big deal,” Braun said.

Daily hassles include annoyances such as having to wait in long lines, finding a parking spot or getting caught in traffic.

Simon said that in some cases, stress from daily hassles can affect people greatly.

“We are a very time-pressured society and we sometimes expect we’re supposed to get exactly what we want quickly,” Braun said.

Common stressors

Most stress is caused by some sort of frustration, which could mean wanting something but not being able to get it. It could even mean conflict.

A common conflict could be a situation where a person has multiple goals, has to choose one and is indecisive, wavering back and forth between options.

“I’d really want to evaluate what I had to do, if I had to do it all or if I could even do it all,” Braun said. “It’s accepting personal limitations.”

Besides a change in attitude, Braun said that people should try to put their problems in perspective to avoid becoming too stressed. The way that situations are interpreted by those involved are a large stress factor.

“I try to be positive about it (stress),” Mariela Contreras, 21, liberal studies major said.

Braun also said that perceiving stress mentally can cause changes through the nervous system and in hormones, causing the physical reactions people experience when they are feeling very stressed.

Stress can even suppress the immune system or cause physical damage.

“Psychological and physical health are linked,” Simon said.

At the EC Health Center, located by the P.E. Building, students may make appointments with clinical psychologists, which Braun suggested for students who suffer from stress.

Appointments with psychologists may be made Mondays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Health Center also provides workshops on subjects such as anxiety disorders and test anxiety. More information is available at the Health Center.

Braun also said that keeping a journal or having someone to talk to about problems with can be helpful.

“Someone trying to tough stress out alone makes greater distress,” Braun said.

Another suggestion was to keep a flip-chart calendar to organize work and class schedules.

If students log events and tests in a calendar, Braun said that their schedules will be clear to them and it will be easier for them to manage their time.

Braun suggested planning out a schedule at least a week in advance.

“What that can do for us is give us more control,” Braun said.

Braun said that balancing out activities is helpful.

Striking a balance

Finding ways to make time for both the things you need to do and the things you want to do could make life less stressful and more enjoyable.

Unhealthy ways of relieving stress would be abusing alcohol, drugs or cigarettes, Simon said.

Simon said that those methods only work temporarily.

“It certainly does work in the short run,” Simon said. “But when you come down from your high, the stressor is still there.”

Braun said that road rage or aggression toward others would also be a bad way of handling stress.

“People get into their cars and they drive like maniacs and they get angry at other people,” Braun said. “It’s very dangerous.”

Braun explains that besides distress, which is negative stress, there is also eustress, which is positive stress.

Eustress is a major change in life to cope with, but it would be a positive one.

Marriage, having children, or beginning a relationship are all examples of positive stresses.

“Students should also realize that it is not healthy to focus only on school and work. People have social needs as well,” Braun said.

But family or relationship pressures can be another cause of stress.

Braun said that it is not uncommon for students to become stressed because of their parents or others pushing them toward a certain goal.

“Being able to solve problems in relationships is crucial,” Braun said.

Some of the stress is subconscious and kind of in the background; you need to make it conscious,” Braun said.