By: Eberechukwu Ezennaya

Generally, stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional or psychological strain.

According to a Mental Health Foundation in United Kingdom, Stress is the feeling of being overwhelmed or unable to cope with mental or emotional pressure.

The National Cancer Institute, United States of America, explained stress as the body’s response to physical, mental or emotional pressure that causes chemical changes in the body resulting to increase in blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar levels which may also lead to feelings of frustration, anxiety, anger or depression.

As Humans, different situations or life events can cause us stress. Usually, stress is triggered when we experience something new, unexpected, development that threatens our sense of self, or when we feel we have little control over a situation.

An individual’s ability to cope with stress can be dependent on genetics, early life events, personality, social and economic circumstances.

Given the various types of stress, we shall be considering academic stress for the purpose of this work.

In an age where education remains a pivotal key for societal development, the rate of enrollment into schools especially higher institutions has overtime witnessed tremendous geometric spike.

While more adolescents make it to high school, it is only a beginning to a huge pressure posed by various factors in which prominent among them is the need to achieve good academic performance.

The urgency to respond to this demand for an acceptable academic achievement creates room for academic stress among students.

According to Saleh Alsulami and Zaid Al – Omar (2018), Academic stress is the body’s response to academic – related demands that exceed adaptive capabilities of students.

Academic stress is a MENTAL distress with respect to some anticipated frustration associated with academic failure or even unawareness to the possibility of such failure.

It therefore translates that the root cause of academic stress among students is the fear for failure.

From a neuro-hormonal physiology perspective, Al – Ayadhi (2015) was able to show that academic stress induces significant neuro-hormonal changes at the hypothalamic – pituitary – adrenocortical axis. Other studies have also proven substantial immunological deregulation in higher institution students.

Students at all levels undergo varying rates of academic stress, however, some researchers have asserted that stress is much more concentrated among new students. This discovery is supported by emotional, environmental, social and psychological change faced by new students most of whom are leaving their family for the first time.

Excessive levels of Academic stress can lead to an increase prevalence of psychological and physical problems like depression, anxiety, nervousness and stress – related disorders, which in turn can affect student’s academic results.

Elements of academic stress include: tests, grades, homework academic achievement expectations, parental pressure, inadequate instructional methods/materials, lecturer – student relationship, heavy academic workload, poor physical classroom environment, inability to balance one’s time with school’s time, lack of money and irregularities surrounding academic assignments and schedules.

The mental health of students, especially in terms of academic stress and its impact has become a serious issue among school and policy makers because of the increasing incidence of suicides and drop – outs among students.

Since Academic stress is inevitable for students, then handling it becomes imperative. Here are some of the ways in which students can manage academic stress:

1. Stay Present: Students undergo high level of stress after experiencing failure over some academic work. At this point, students feel greatly discouraged. The best way to stay afloat is to forget the past and concentrate on the present. Do not allow the courses you fail affect your performance in your present class. Make up your mind to give your best again.
2. Take Responsibility For Your Failure: Most time you hear students say “that lecturer gave me F”. If you are going to come through, don’t blame anyone for your failure. Tell yourself that you are responsible for this result and decide to make it up with all diligence.
3. Learn From Your Mistakes: At this stage, it involves self – examination. Discover why and how you missed it. It might require you to re-strategize. It could be you didn’t read enough as you ought to. It could be you didn’t write all the assignments as you ought to. It could be you were too serious with attending classes. Learn from your mistakes and make fresh plan.
4. Understand Your Personality: This another important aspect of managing academic stress. Understanding your personality helps you to identify what really works for you. It’s possible you might not be a long – time reader. That is, you can only read for a maximum of three hours. Some persons may not be flowing well with reading at night. For them, day time is a suitable time to read. For some students, they enjoy reading in group while others may prefer reading alone. So, it’s expedient that you find out where you belong and never try to force yourself to become like others.
5. Practice Good Self – Care: Yes, your health must remain an unnegotiable phenomenon while in school. Therefore, to stay active in your academic endeavors and avoid undue stress, always eat and rest properly.
6. Always Plan Your Time: One of the challenges students face is the challenge of managing freedom. In high institution, it is believed that you are up to age and should be able to choose what is right for you without an external intrusion. Now, students forget there is a consequence for how we spend our time. To reduce academic stress, you must plan your time. There must an intentional period set apart for everything including social and religious activities. You plan every bit of your time according to scale of preference and discipline yourself to keep to your plan.
7. Seek Academic Help When You Need It: Do not isolate yourself during times of stress. When you are finding it difficult to comprehend some lessons, you can reach out to tutorial groups, a colleague, a senior friend, or visit the lecturer. The school also has library facilities to assist students make further research into complex subjects.
8. Utilize Your Hobby: It could be music, football, gaming etc. Mindfully engaging in your hobby will help to minimize the effect of Academic stress on your studies.
9. Organize Yourself: This is another weak point for most students. If you must scale through academic stress, then learn to organize yourself. Organizing yourself includes being aware of the lectures you have for each day. Get yourself ready. Buy more than one pen. Buy enough note books. Photocopy needed materials before time. Be in class before the arrival of the lecturer. Make sure you do your assignment before it is requested for submission. It will save you unnecessary running up and down. Organize Yourself. If you need to cook, plan when to prepare your meal so you don’t miss or come late to classes. Each day, get your dress ready for the next day.
10. Take Calm Breaths: It gives you some level of confidence. When you are in a test hall or sitting for your exam, put yourself together. It’s not time to start breathing fast and sweating. Having prepared, sit down calmly and feel relaxed.

Eberechukwu Ezennaya is a graduate of Education and Physics from the prestigious University of Benin, Benin City, a former Editor In Chief of the Nigeria Universities Education Student, University of Benin, a member of Association of Campus Journalists, University of Benin Chapter, a member of Students Hub of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), University of Beini and Pioneer of online political awareness movement called “Political Watch”.

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