• Question: what is the best way to reduce and cope with stress?

    Asked by Aimee.mae to Sam, Rose, Maggi, Kirsty, Ben on 15 Jun 2017.
    • Photo: Kirsty Miller

      Kirsty Miller answered on 15 Jun 2017:

      Hi 🙂 That’s a great question! The thing that makes stress ‘stressful’, is when we feel we aren’t able to cope with it… So the way to beat it is to avoid seeing the event as being stressful! This is so much easier said than done, but it can be done with practice! The idea is that it’s not the event itself that is stressful, it is how you react to it… So you need to see a potential stressful event as a challenge rather than a problem!
      The best advice I was given is that you can’t change what happens to you, but you can change how you react to it. So as I say, practice seeing stressful events as a challenge that you can overcome rather than a problem that you don’t know how to deal with!

    • Photo: Rose Turner

      Rose Turner answered on 16 Jun 2017:

      Stress is the body’s natural response to a difficult situation. So first of all, don’t feel stressed about feeling stressed – it’s perfectly normal, and it’s designed to help you perform better under pressure. Feeling stressed before an exam, for example, will make you more productive and more alert. However, if you’re feeling very very stressed and there doesn’t seem to be a clear reason then you should seek some support from a counsellor or advisor at your school.
      But assuming your stress levels are a normal response to a situation: try to break the situation down into manageable parts. First of all, why are you stressed? It’s because you’ve got an exam? Ok, good, now you’ve given it a name it’s not so scary. Then, what are you afraid of? Failing? Ok, so the remedy is revision. But you’re worried you don’t have the time? Ok, take steps to plan your time. Then, you only have to deal with one chunk of revision at a time, and it becomes much more manageable. If there are other things making you stressed too – try to do the same with them. What’s the thing, what do I need to do, how long have I got and how do I do it – break it down into manageable steps.
      Have you ever tried mindfulness? It can really help to train your mind to not get overwhelmed (you know that feeling where it’s just like ‘argh! it’s all too much and I don’t even know where to begin!!!’) There are apps that you can use, and it just takes a few minutes out of every day and can really help (I do it, and it’s helped me a lot with stress).

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