Issue date: 12/12/08 Section: News

Senior economics major Matthew Green and senior sociology major Kristen Savantos study for final exams in Booth Library on Thursday afternoon. (Kelsey Karstrand/The Daily Eastern News)

With final exams less than a week away and final projects being due already, student stress could climb to insurmountable heights.

Ryan Messinger, health education coordinator for the Health Education Resource Center, said stress could come from a number of sources.

"It may be the fact that they have large projects coming due, are nervous about taking an exam that may greatly impact their overall grade, feeling overwhelmed with all the studying that will need to be done, or perhaps simply the realization that the semester has flown by," Messinger said.

He added stress could manifest in a number of different ways ranging from emotional reactions to physical symptoms such as sweating, trouble sleeping or even increased blood pressure. One of the most severe effects of stress is the toll it takes on the immune system - lowering the body's natural defenses against illness.

Dealing with stress once it has already begun to take effect can vary upon the person. Messinger said allotting time to do what a student enjoys could have great effects.

One widely held belief is exercising reduces stress.

In a 2001 report from the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, David C. Nieman, at the Appalachian State University Department of Health and Exercise Science, said by doing moderate exercise, several positive changes occur in the immune system.

Messinger said the best way to combat stress is not to procrastinate. "It is best to absorb information over the course of several days or weeks instead of cramming a large amount of information in a very short time," he said.

Eric Davidson, associate director of Health Service, said getting sleep will also help reduce stress. "Getting good quantity and quality sleep is one of the best steps an individual can take to reduce stress and anxiety, improve quality of life, and positively impact academic performance," he said.

He added, for finals, students should get at least eight hours of sleep, maintain a consistent sleep schedule and work out every day. Also for a healthy finals week, students should not consume caffeine, alcohol or nicotine within several hours before going to bed, Davidson said.

Wil Lyons can be reached at 581-7942 or at dennewsdesk@gmail.com.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools

The Daily Eastern News encourages on-topic, civil discussion on its articles posted online. It is our policy not to screen comments before they are posted or edit them after they are posted. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are off-topic, malicious, libelous or include excessive foul language. The DEN also reserves the right to turn off all comments on any story it deems necessary.

Comments violating copyright law will also be removed.

Users who repeatedly violate this policy will be banned from commenting.

If you have any questions on our comment policy or wish to report a comment that you feel violates these standards, please e-mail a link to the article to our Online Editor at DENNews.com@gmail.com.