Emma Forst Reporter
The heart of the semester can be a tense time for college students. Homework is piling up, there are seemingly endless assignments, along with dreaded midterms. To help college students fight this overwhelming feeling, Taylor Panczer from the Student Health Center gave a seminar on how to manage stress and take care of yourself.
Here, Panczer gave tips, advice, and talked about the many resource’s students have access to on campus. She also recommended three apps students can use that are free to download onto their phones; Breath2Relax, Happify, and Personal Zen. These apps provide breathing exercises, mindfulness, and other helpful strategies to combat negative mental health. Along with these apps, Panczer also mentioned the Teulus App that is free for all PSU students, where they can talk to mental health professionals through call or text.
Beyond digital resources, she also offered resources that are available in-person. The Gorilla Pantry offers food and hygiene products and is located in the Bryant Student Health center from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Student Health Center also has mental health professionals who welcome students along with Scout, a Therapy Dog who is available for counseling. When students are feeling too overwhelmed and want to talk things out, or they’re just wanting to see a furry friend, Scout is available every Tuesday and Thursday at the Byrant Student Health Center.
A universal tool to overcome not just stress but any mental health crisis, 741-741 is a phone number you can text about any mental health crisis, and if you feel like calling and talking the phone number, 988 is a mental health crisis number you can call or text.
To help feel more on top of things academically, “Canvas” has an extension that you can download called “Tasks for Canvas” that will analyze and present your assignments that are due for that week in the order that they are due. This is a very helpful tool that makes schoolwork feel more manageable.
Often, students can fall into the mindset of just trying to make it to the weekend or making it through the week; this mindset is called white knuckling. Just trying to get through the next thing makes the body work overtime. Once students do finally start to slow down, the body will stop fighting as hard and can become sick at that time, Panczer says. For example, when students just have to get to Thanksgiving break and then Thanksgiving break comes, bodies can start to relax and get sick. The body physically reacts to stress; the cortisol in the body increases, which can weaken memory and the immune system, and an increase in weight can potentially occur.
Panczer gave some tips on how to avoid this: drink 90 ounces of water every day, eat healthy, find a good routine, and always try to get eight hours of sleep each night. Sleep is crucial and should not be compromised. To sleep better, it’s a good idea to only use a bed to sleep. Don’t study, eat, or even scroll on your phone in your bed. When it is time for sleep, the brain doesn’t know if it should be awake or not, and when you avoid doing these things in your bed, your brain knows when to shut off.
If you are still having trouble falling asleep, Panczer recommended Progressive Muscle Relaxation. Tensing and relaxing muscles by group to bring your focus to the present moment. Progressive Muscle Relaxation can be used anytime, to ground you in the moment and relax your body.
Often times to relax people scroll on their phones, when this is just disassociating. Disassociating is not relaxing, because when we are mindlessly scrolling on our phones in the back of your mind you are still thinking about what you have to do. This can be considered a negative coping mechanism to stress. Instead, find positive coping mechanisms to deal with stress, or something that completely relaxes you, like moving your body, drawing, cooking, taking a nap, or journaling. And when you’re too stressed to de-stress, there are steps you can take to feel more in control: prioritize, set a goal, make a plan, write it down, tell someone, get support, and reward actions, not results.