National Stress Awareness Day falls on November 6 this year. This important day isn’t a holiday, but a gentle reminder to people worldwide that stress is very real and can lead to mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. According to Awareness Days, “Stress is a response to demands on the body and life, a response to crisis and fears.” According to a survey sent out to IHS, stress is a huge part of many students’ lives.
In the survey, 156 students used a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, to describe how stressed they were on average. Fifty-seven percent of students replied that they were a 4 or a 5 on the scale. When asked where the majority of their stress came from, 75.7 percent of students reported “Workload—deadlines, homework, and tests.” HuffPost states, “With exam pressures and college admissions anxiety at an all-time high, academic stress can become a daily struggle as early as middle school.” This academic stress seems to infiltrate the minds of students at Ithaca High School. Judging from the survey completed by almost 200 students, IHS stress levels and sentiments seem identical to high schools across the nation.
When asked about how their stress and grades were related, 46.5 percent of students said their grades were a 5 out of 5 importance to them, and 50.7 percent of students reported having three or more hours of homework every night. “Simple things, like a warm bath, listening to music, or spending time on a favorite hobby, can give you a much-needed break from the stressors in your life,” states Harvard Medical School. However, less than three-quarters of IHS students who answered the survey said they make having free time a priority in their lives.
An article by Medical News Today listed communicating as one of the main ways to decrease the stress in your life. “Talking to family, friends, work colleagues, and your boss about your thoughts and worries will help you ‘let off steam,’” the article claims. But the IHS survey reported that only 33.8 percent of students talk to someone about their day on a regular basis.
Lack of sleep is also listed as a cause of stress among experts. On the IHS survey, 77.6 percent of students chose “Get more sleep” as an option that would help them get rid of stress as well as something they would consider doing, yet 49.1 percent of students answered that they got six or less hours of sleep every night. According to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, “studies show that most teenagers need exactly 9.25 hours of sleep.” The lack of getting a good night’s sleep could be a large cause of stress at IHS.
Remember this November to make sure you find activities that de-stress you, and make it a constant priority to relax and get as much sleep as possible. With the amount of stress work, classes, sports, clubs, and family can give you, it’s important to ensure you take time for yourself. IHS students listed reading a book, talking to friends, and getting more sleep as activities that lower their stress levels. Don’t disregard things that help you relax, because they can be just as important as getting good grades on your road to success at IHS.