the ways to reduce stress essay

Essay on Stress Management

500 words essay on stress management.

Stress is a very complex phenomenon that we can define in several ways. However, if you put them together, it is basically the wear and tear of daily life. Stress management refers to a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies for controlling a person’s stress level, especially chronic stress . If there is effective stress management, we can help one another break the hold of stress on our lives. The essay on stress management will throw light on the very same thing.

Identifying the Source of Stress

The first step of stress management is identifying the source of stress in your life. It is not as easy as that but it is essential. The true source of stress may not always be evident as we tend to overlook our own stress-inducing thoughts and feelings.

For instance, you might constantly worry about meeting your deadline. But, in reality, maybe your procrastination is what leads to this stress than the actual deadline. In order to identify the source of stress, we must look closely within ourselves.

If you explain away stress as temporary, then it may be a problem. Like if you yourself don’t take a breather from time to time, what is the point? On the other hand, is stress an integral part of your work and you acknowledging it like that?

If you make it a part of your personality, like you label things as crazy or nervous energy, you need to look further. Most importantly, do you blame the stress on people around you or the events surrounding you?

It is essential to take responsibility for the role one plays in creating or maintaining stress. Your stress will remain outside your control if you do not do it.

Strategies for Stress Management

It is obvious that we cannot avoid all kinds of stress but there are many stressors in your life which you can definitely eliminate. It is important to learn how to say no and stick to them.  Try to avoid people who stress you out.

Further, if you cannot avoid a stressful situation, try altering it. Express your feelings don’t bottle them up and manage your time better. Moreover, you can also adapt to the stressor if you can’t change it.

Reframe problems and look at the big picture. Similarly, adjust your standards and focus on the positive side. Never try to control the uncontrollable. Most importantly, make time for having fun and relaxing.

Spend some time with nature, go for a walk or call a friend, whatever pleases you.  You can also try working out, listening to music and more. As long as it makes you happy, never give up.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of the Essay on Stress Management

All in all, we can control our stress levels with relaxation techniques that evoke the relaxation response of our body. It is the state of restfulness that is the opposite of the stress response. Thus, when you practice these techniques regularly, you can build your resilience and heal yourself.

FAQ of Essay on Stress Management

Question 1: What is the importance of stress management?

Answer 1: Stress management is very efficient as it helps in breaking the hold which stress has on our lives. Moreover, you can also become happy, healthy and more productive because of it. The ultimate goal should be to live a balanced life and have the resilience to hold up under pressure.

Question 2: Give some stress management techniques.

Answer 2: There are many stress management techniques through which one can reduce stress in their lives. One can change their situation or their reaction to it. We can try by altering the situation. If not, we can change our attitudes towards it. Remember, accept things that you cannot change.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Take Control

• Practice Stress
• Rock and Roll Breathing
• Support and Relationships
• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Originally published on July 24, 2017

How to Be Better at Stress

By Tara Parker-Pope

Illustrations by Sam Kalda

Stress is unavoidable in modern life, but it doesn’t have to get you down. Work, money and family all create daily stress, while bigger issues like the global pandemic and politics contribute to our underlying stress levels. But approach it the right way, and it won’t rule your life — it can even be good for you. Here are ways to deal with stress, reduce its harm and even use your daily stress to make you stronger.

Stress is inevitable; getting sick from it is not.

The Perception of Stress

While we know that stress is associated with health problems, plenty of people with high-stress lives are thriving. How is that possible? In 2012, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison published a seminal study looking at how 28,000 people perceived stress in their lives. People in the study answered these two questions:

During the past 12 months, would you say that you experienced:

A lot of stress A moderate amount of stress Relatively little stress Almost no stress at all

How much effect has stress had on your health?

A lot Some Hardly any None

The researchers looked at death rates in the study group over nine years. The results are startling. The study found that having a lot of stress in your life was not linked with premature death. But having a lot of stress in your life and believing it was taking a toll on your health increased risk of premature death by 43 percent.

Changing your perception

With stress, the mind and the body are intrinsically linked. You can view stress as something that is wreaking havoc on your body (and it can) or as something that is giving you the strength and energy to overcome adversity. Here’s a quick way to think about these two very different views of stress. Read the statement, and then think about your own reaction to the biological changes that occur during times of stress. 1. When I’m stressed, my body releases adrenaline and cortisol. My heart is beating faster. This means that:

Common View: Stress is increasing my risk for cardiovascular disease and heart attack.

Alternative View: My heart is working harder and my body is mobilizing its energy to get ready for this challenge.

2. When I’m stressed, my stress response is causing my breathing rate to increase. This means that:

Common View: My fast breathing is a sign of anxiety. I worry about how stress is affecting my mental and physical health.

Alternative View: I should take a deep breath. My faster breathing means more oxygen is getting to my brain so I can think more clearly.

3. When I’m stressed, my heart and circulatory system respond, causing my blood pressure to rise. This means that:

Common View: I can feel my blood pressure rising. This can’t be good for my health.

Alternative View: Circulatory changes are allowing more oxygen and nutrients to fuel my muscles. I’m feeling stronger and ready for the challenge ahead.

It’s probably clear to you that the alternative view is the better choice for thinking about stress. It may be hard to believe that such a small shift in thinking could make a difference, but that’s what Harvard researchers found when they paid 50 study subjects $25 each to take part in a lab experiment designed to induce stress. The test involves giving a talk in front of a group of unfriendly evaluators, followed by a tricky word test. (Researchers have consistently found that this formula of public speaking plus testing in front of a hostile crowd is incredibly uncomfortable and stress-inducing for the poor people who agree to take part in the study.)

Before the social stress test, one group was allowed to play video games; another was taught to simply ignore stressful feelings if they experienced them during the test. But a third group was given advice similar to the quiz above. They got a primer about the physical stress response and were told how a higher heart rate, faster breathing and internal jitters were all tools for making you strong during a stressful event. They were told how the body’s stress response evolved to help us succeed, and that the increased arousal symptoms of stress can aid your performance during times of stress. The bottom line of the lesson was this: In a tough situation, stress makes you stronger.

The group that learned to rethink the role of stress in their lives did far better on the test. They gave better speeches and were rated as more confident. They smiled more and had more-positive body language. And physiological indicators showed that their bodies were also managing the stress response better than those of test subjects who were taught to ignore stress or given no advice at all.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Best Family Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Sweepstakes
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2024 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

Top 10 Stress Management Techniques for Students

How to de-stress when you're feeling overwhelmed

No doubt about it, school is stressful. Academic deadlines, worrying about grades, pressure from parents and teachers, and juggling these challenges with your other responsibilities can leave you feeling frazzled and anxious.

The bad news is that all this stress can take a toll on your health, happiness, relationships, and grades. The good news is that learning to utilize some effective stress management strategies for students can help you tame these anxieties and keep your stress at manageable levels—even during midterms and finals.

At a Glance

Most students experience significant amounts of stress. This can significantly affect your academic performance, social life, and well-being. Learning stress management techniques can help you avoid negative effects in these areas. Strategies that can help include:

• Getting enough sleep
• Using guided imagery
• Exercise regularly
• Practicing deep breathing
• Using progressive muscle relaxation
• Listening to music
• Finding social support
• Eating a healthy diet
• Eliminating sources of stress
• Trying mindfulness

Let's take a closer look at why stress management is so important for students and what you can do to get a handle on the stress in your life.

Why Stress Management Is Important for Students

A study by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that teens report stress levels similar to adults. This means teens are experiencing significant levels of chronic stress and feel their stress levels generally exceed their ability to cope effectively .

Roughly 30% of the teens reported feeling overwhelmed, depressed, or sad because of their stress. According to one Pew Research Center report, 70% of teens view anxiety and depression as major problems for people their age.

Stress can also affect health-related behaviors. Stressed students are more likely to have problems with disrupted sleep, poor diet, and lack of exercise. This is understandable given that nearly half of APA survey respondents reported completing three hours of homework per night in addition to their full day of school work and extracurriculars.

Common Causes of Student Stress

Why are students today so stressed? According to the APA 2023 Stress in America report, Gen Z and younger millennials are overwhelmed by stress. The causes of this stress come from many areas. Financial worries , loneliness and isolation, climate concerns, political strife, the collective trauma linked to the pandemic, and other world events are all factors that play a part in the pressure on young people today. 

Another study found that much of high school students' stress originates from school and activities, and that this chronic stress can persist into college years and lead to academic disengagement and mental health problems.

Top Student Stressors

Common sources of student stress include:

• Extracurricular activities
• Social challenges
• Transitions (e.g., graduating, moving out , living independently)
• Relationships
• Pressure to succeed
• World events

Among High School Students

High school students face the intense competitiveness of taking challenging courses, amassing impressive extracurriculars, studying and acing college placement tests, and deciding on important and life-changing plans for their future. At the same time, they have to navigate the social challenges inherent to the high school experience.

Among College Students

This stress continues if students decide to attend college. Stress is an unavoidable part of life, but research has found that increased daily stressors put college-aged young adults at a higher risk for stress than other age groups.

Making new friends, handling a more challenging workload, feeling pressured to succeed, being without parental support, and navigating the stresses of more independent living are all added challenges that make this transition more difficult. Romantic relationships always add an extra layer of potential stress.

Students often recognize that they need to relieve stress . However, all the activities and responsibilities that fill a student’s schedule sometimes make it difficult to find the time to try new stress relievers to help dissipate that stress.

10 Stress Management Techniques for Students

Here you will learn 10 stress management techniques for students. These options are relatively easy, quick, and relevant to a student’s life and types of stress .

Get Enough Sleep

Blend Images - Hill Street Studios / Brand X Pictures / Getty Images

Students, with their packed schedules, are notorious for missing sleep. Unfortunately, operating in a sleep-deprived state puts you at a distinct disadvantage. You’re less productive, may find it more difficult to learn, and may even be a hazard behind the wheel.

Research suggests that sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness are also linked to impaired mood, higher risk for car accidents, lower grade point averages, worse learning, and a higher risk of academic failure.

Don't neglect your sleep schedule. Aim to get at least 8 hours a night and take power naps when needed.

Use Guided Imagery

David Malan / Getty Images

Guided imagery can also be a useful and effective tool to help stressed students cope with academic, social, and other stressors. Visualizations can help you calm down, detach from what’s stressing you, and reduce your body’s stress response.

You can use guided imagery to relax your body by sitting in a quiet, comfortable place, closing your eyes, and imagining a peaceful scene. Spend several minutes relaxing as you enjoy mentally basking in your restful image.

Consider trying a guided imagery app if you need extra help visualizing a scene and inducting a relaxation response. Research suggests that such tools might be an affordable and convenient way to reduce stress.

Exercise Regularly

One of the healthiest ways to blow off steam is to get regular exercise . Evidence indicates that students who participate in regular physical activity report lower levels of perceived stress.

While these students still grapple with the same social, academic, and life pressures as their less-active peers, these challenges feel less stressful and are easier to manage.

Finding time for exercise might be a challenge, but there are strategies that you can use to add more physical activity to your day. Some ideas that you might try include:

• Doing yoga in the morning
• Walking or biking to class
• Reviewing for tests with a friend while walking on a treadmill at the gym
• Taking an elective gym class focused on leisure sports or exercise
• Joining an intramural sport

Exercise can help buffer against the negative effects of student stress. Starting now and keeping a regular exercise practice throughout your lifetime can help you live longer and enjoy your life more.

Take Calming Breaths

When your body is experiencing a stress response, you’re often not thinking as clearly as you could be. You are also likely not breathing properly. You might be taking short, shallow breaths. When you breathe improperly, it upsets the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body.

Studies suggest this imbalance can contribute to various physical symptoms, including increased anxiety, fatigue, stress, emotional problems, and panic attacks.

A quick way to calm down is to practice breathing exercises . These can be done virtually anywhere to relieve stress in minutes.

Because they are fast-acting, breathing exercises are a great way to cope with moments of acute stress , such as right before an exam or presentation. But they can also help manage longer-lasting stress such as dealing with relationships, work, or financial problems.

Practice Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

Another great stress management technique for students that can be used during tests, before bed, or at other times when stress has you physically wound up is progressive muscle relaxation ( PMR ).

This technique involves tensing and relaxing all muscles until the body is completely relaxed. With practice, you can learn to release stress from your body in seconds. This can be particularly helpful for students because it can be adapted to help relaxation efforts before sleep for a deeper sleep.

Once a person learns how to use PMR effectively, it can be a quick and handy way to induce relaxation in any stressful situation, such as bouts of momentary panic before a speech or exam, dealing with a disagreement with your roommate, or preparing to discuss a problem with your academic advisor.

Listen to Music

As convenient stress reliever that has also shown many cognitive benefits, music can help relieve stress and calm you down or stimulate your mind depending on what you need in the moment.

Research has found that playing upbeat music can improve processing speed and memory. Stressed students may find that listening to relaxing music can help calm the body and mind. One study found that students who listened to the sounds of relaxing music were able to recover more quickly after a stressful situation.

Students can harness the benefits of music by playing classical music while studying, playing upbeat music to "wake up" mentally, or relaxing with the help of their favorite slow melodies.

Build Your Support Network

Halfpoint Images / Getty Images

Having emotional support can help create a protective buffer against stress. Unfortunately,  interpersonal relationships can also sometimes be a source of anxiety for students. Changes in friendships, romantic breakups, and life transitions such as moving away for college can create significant upheaval and stress for students.

One way to combat feelings of loneliness and make sure that you have people to lean on in times of need is to expand your support network and nurture your relationships.

Look for opportunities to meet new people, whether it involves joining study groups or participating in other academic, social, and leisure activities.

Remember that different types of relationships offer differing types of support . Your relationships with teachers, counselors, and mentors can be a great source of information and resources that may help you academically. Relationships with friends can provide emotional and practical support.

Widening your social circle can combat student stress on various fronts and ensure you have what you need to succeed.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Niedring/Drentwett / Getty Images

You may not realize it, but your diet can either boost your brainpower or sap you of mental energy. It can also make you more reactive to the stress in your life. As a result, you might find yourself turning to high-sugar, high-fat snacks to provide a temporary sense of relief.

A healthy diet can help combat stress in several ways. Improving your diet can keep you from experiencing diet-related mood swings, light-headedness, and more.

Unfortunately, students are often prone to poor dietary habits. Feelings of stress can make it harder to stick to a consistently healthy diet, but other concerns such as finances, access to cooking facilities, and time to prepare healthy meals can make it more challenging for students.

Some tactics that can help students make healthy choices include:

• Eating regularly
• Carrying a water bottle to class
• Keeping healthy snacks such as fruits and nuts handy
• Limiting caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol intake

Find Ways to Minimize Stress

One way to improve your ability to manage student stress is to look for ways you cut stress out of your life altogether. Evaluate the things that are bringing stress or anxiety into your life. Are they necessary? Are they providing more benefits than the toll they take on your mental health? If the answer is no, sometimes the best option is just to ditch them altogether.

This might mean cutting some extracurricular activities out of your schedule. It might mean limiting your use of social media. Or it might mean learning to say no to requests for your time, energy, and resources. 

While it might be challenging at first, learning how to prioritize yourself and your mental well-being is an important step toward reducing your stress.

Try Mindfulness

When you find yourself dealing with stress—whether it's due to academics, relationships, financial pressures, or social challenges—becoming more aware of how you feel in the moment may help you respond more effectively.

Mindfulness involves becoming more aware of the present moment. Rather than judging, reacting, or avoiding problems, the goal is to focus on the present, become more aware of how you are feeling, observe your reactions, and accept these feelings without passing judgment on them.

Research suggests that mindfulness-based stress management practices can be a useful tool for reducing student stress. Such strategies may also help reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.

It is important to remember that stress isn't the same for everyone. Figuring out what works for you may take some trial and error. A good start is to ensure that you are taking care of yourself physically and emotionally and to experiment with different stress relief strategies to figure out what works best to help you feel less stressed.

If stress and anxiety are causing distress or making it difficult to function in your daily life, it is important to seek help. Many schools offer resources that can help, including face-to-face and online mental health services. You might start by talking to your school counselor or student advisor about the stress you are coping with. You can also talk to a parent, another trusted adult, or your doctor.

If you or a loved one are struggling with anxiety, contact the  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline  at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.

For more mental health resources, see our  National Helpline Database .

American Psychological Association. Stress in America: Are Teens Adopting Adults' Stress Habits?

Pew Research Center. Most U.S. teens see anxiety and depression as a major problem among their peers .

American Psychological Association. Stress in America 2023 .

Leonard NR, Gwadz MV, Ritchie A, et al. A multi-method exploratory study of stress, coping, and substance use among high school youth in private schools . Front Psychol. 2015;6:1028. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01028

Acharya L, Jin L, Collins W. College life is stressful today - Emerging stressors and depressive symptoms in college students . J Am Coll Health . 2018;66(7):655-664. doi:10.1080/07448481.2018.1451869

Beiter R, Nash R, McCrady M, Rhoades D, Linscomb M, Clarahan M, Sammut S. The prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of college students . J Affect Disord . 2015;173:90-6. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2014.10.054

Hershner SD, Chervin RD. Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students . Nat Sci Sleep . 2014;6:73-84. doi:10.2147/NSS.S62907

Gordon JS, Sbarra D, Armin J, Pace TWW, Gniady C, Barraza Y. Use of a guided imagery mobile app (See Me Serene) to reduce COVID-19-related stress: Pilot feasibility study . JMIR Form Res . 2021;5(10):e32353. doi:10.2196/32353

Cowley J, Kiely J, Collins D. Is there a link between self-perceived stress and physical activity levels in Scottish adolescents ? Int J Adolesc Med Health . 2017;31(1). doi:10.1515/ijamh-2016-0104

Harrison OK, Köchli L, Marino S, et al. Interoception of breathing and its relationship with anxiety .  Neuron . 2021;109(24):4080-4093.e8. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2021.09.045

Toussaint L, Nguyen QA, Roettger C, Dixon K, Offenbächer M, Kohls N, Hirsch J, Sirois F. Effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and guided imagery in promoting psychological and physiological states of relaxation . Evid Based Complement Alternat Med . 2021;2021:5924040. doi:10.1155/2021/5924040.

Bottiroli S, Rosi A, Russo R, Vecchi T, Cavallini E. The cognitive effects of listening to background music on older adults: processing speed improves with upbeat music, while memory seems to benefit from both upbeat and downbeat music .  Front Aging Neurosci . 2014;6:284. doi:10.3389/fnagi.2014.00284

Thoma MV, La Marca R, Brönnimann R, Finkel L, Ehlert U, Nater UM.  The effect of music on the human stress response .  PLoS ONE . 2013;8(8):e70156. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070156

American Psychological Association. Manage stress: Strengthen your support network .

Di Polito N, Stylianakis AA, Richardson R, Baker KD. Real-world intake of dietary sugars is associated with reduced cortisol reactivity following an acute physiological stressor .  Nutrients . 2023;15(1):209. doi:10.3390/nu15010209

Parsons D, Gardner P, Parry S, Smart S. Mindfulness-based approaches for managing stress, anxiety and depression for health students in tertiary education: A scoping review . Mindfulness (N Y) . 2022;13(1):1-16. doi:10.1007/s12671-021-01740-3

By Elizabeth Scott, PhD Elizabeth Scott, PhD is an author, workshop leader, educator, and award-winning blogger on stress management, positive psychology, relationships, and emotional wellbeing.

• How It Works
• Prices & Discounts

Stress-Free Essay Writing: 11 Techniques to Overcome Stress and Improve Your Writing

Table of contents

Share this article

Achieve Academic Success with Expert Assistance!

Crafted from Scratch for You.

Ensuring Your Work’s Originality.

Transform Your Draft into Excellence.

Perfecting Your Paper’s Grammar, Style, and Format (APA, MLA, etc.).

Calculate the cost of your paper

Get ideas for your essay

Psychology Discussion

Essay on stress: it’s meaning, effects and coping with stress.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Essay on Stress: It’s Meaning, Effects and Coping with Stress!

Stress is a very common problem being faced today. Every individual will experience stress in one or the other time.

The term stress has many definitions, Lazarus and Folkman (1984) have defined stress as “an internal state which can be caused by physical demands of body or by environmental and social situations, which are evaluated as potentially harmful, uncontrollable, or exceeding our resources for coping”.

According to David Fontana “stress is a demand made upon the adaptive capacities of the mind and body”.

These definitions indicate that stress represents those conditions under which individuals have demand made upon them, that they cannot physically or psychologically meet, leading to breakdown at one or other of these levels.

Stress is usually thought of in negative terms. But ii can manifest itself in both positive and negative way. It is said to be positive when the situation offers an opportunity for one, to gain something.

Eustress (the Greek word ‘eu’ means good) is the term used to describe positive stress. It is often viewed as motivator, since in its absence the individual lacks the spirit necessary for peak performance. Distress is the term used to indicate negative stress.

Almost any change in the environment- even a pleasant change such as a joyful trip- demands some coping, and a little stress is useful in helping us to adapt. But beyond some point, stress becomes a ‘distress’.

What acts to produce distress varies from person to person, but some events seem to be stressors for every person.

Examples of stressors are:

1. Injury or infections of the body, dangers in environment, major changes or transitions in life which force us to cope in new ways.

2. Physical stressors like noise, pollutions, climatic changes, etc.

3. Hustles of everyday life centering on work, family, social activities, health and finances.

4. Frustrations and conflicts.

The physical, environmental and social causes of the stress state are termed stressors. Once induced by stressors the internal stress state can then lead to various responses. On the other hand, psychological responses such as anxiety, hopelessness, depression, irritability, and a general feeling of not being able to cope with the world, can result from the stress state.

Stress cycles:

Stress has a number of immediate effects. If the stressors are maintained, long-term behavioural, physiological, emotional and cognitive effects occur. If these effects hinder adaptation to the environment or create discomfort and distress, they themselves become stressors and, tend to perpetuate a ‘cycle’ of distress.

Example, a patient spends more money on treatment, may experience continued stress even after the cure of the disease, because repayment of debt cause stress for long time in him or a patient whose leg is amputated after accident may continue to worry about it.

On the other hand, many people have developed ways of coping with stressors, so that they are able to respond adaptively. This is the ‘wellness cycle’. Teaching people adaptive ways of handling stress, so as to promote the wellness cycle is an important part of the newly emerging field of behavioural medicine.

Effects of stress:

Stress is not always harmful. In fact, it is recognised that low levels of stress can even helps for better performance. For example, a student can prepare well for forthcoming examination only if he has some stress. However, excess level of stress is undoubtedly harmful.

The effects of stress are divided into three categories:

a. Physiological effects:

Commonly appearing stress related bodily disorders are-peptic ulcers, hypertension, chronic fatigue, hormonal changes, increased heart rate, difficulty in breathing, numbness of limbs, heart disease and reduction in immunity, etc.

b. Psychological effects:

Anxiety, depression, hopelessness, helplessness, anger, nervousness, irritability, tension and boredom may be experienced.

c. Behavioural changes:

Decreasing efficiency, making mistakes, inability to take decisions, under eating or overeating, sleeplessness, increased smoking, develop addiction to alcohol and drugs, forgetfulness, hypersensitivity or passiveness, accident proneness and interpersonal difficulties are seen.

Stress is linked to disorders such as cancer and heart disorders. There are several mediating variables that determine whether stress becomes dangerous or not. For example, good coping mechanisms which can help to reduce stress, having good social support, often help in reducing stress.

Perception of stress or how a person views stress is also very important. For example, a person may not perceive a situation as stressful whereas the same situation may be perceived as highly stressful by some other person.

People with personality type ‘A’ are more prone to be affected by stress related disorders like cardiovascular diseases. Personality character like hardiness or emotional stability helps to withstand effects of stress.

Hans Selye, a renowned biological scientist defines stress as the nonspecific response of the body to any demand upon it. He termed the body’s response to stressors the “General Adaptation Syndrome” (GAS).

The GAS consists of 3 stages:

1. Alarm reaction:

It is an emergency response of the body. In this stage prompt responses of the body, many of them mediated by the sympathetic nervous system, prepare us to cope with the stressor here and now.

2. Stage of resistance:

If the stressor continues to be present, the stage of resistance begins, wherein the body resists the effects of the continuous stressor. During this stage certain hormonal responses of the body are an important line of defence in resisting the effects of stressors (For example, release of ACTH).

3. Stage of exhaustion:

In this stage, the body’s capacity to respond to both continuous and new stressors has been seriously compromised. The person will no longer be able to face stressor and he will finally succumb to it. The person may develop psychosomatic illness.

The stress leads to many psychosomatic diseases. Treatment for such diseases involves medical help for the physical problems and, at the same time, attention to the psychological factors producing the stress.

Coping with Stress :

There are different ways of coping with stress such as: confronting (facing), distancing (remoteness), self-control, seeking social support, accepting responsibility, escape or avoid (from the stressor), plan a problem solving strategy and positive reappraisal.

Usually two broad type of coping types are seen- Instrumental coping and Emotional coping.

In instrumental coping, a person focuses on the problem and tries to solve it. In emotional coping, the focus is more on the feelings generated by the problem.

Today, self- help remedies, Do to yourself approaches, weight loss clinics and diets, health foods and physical exercise are being given much attention in mass media. People are actually taking more responsibility to maintain good health.

However, some specific techniques to eliminate or to manage more effectively the inevitable, prolonged stress are as follows:

Good physical exercise like walking, jogging, swimming, riding bicycle, playing soft ball, tennis are necessary to cope with stress.

Relaxation:

Whether a person simply takes it easy once in a while or uses specific relaxation techniques such as bio-feedback, or meditation, the intent is to eliminate the immediately stressful situation or manage a prolonged stressful situation more effectively.

Taking it easy may mean curling up with a good book on an easy chair or watching some light programme on television or listening to a light music. Meditation is scientifically proved to be very useful, both physically and mentally to cope with stress.

Behavioural self-control:

By deliberately managing the antecedents and the consequence of their own behaviour, people can achieve self-control. Besides managing their own behaviour to reduce stress, people can also become more aware of their limits and of ‘red flags’ that signal trouble ahead. They can avoid people or situations that they know will put them under stress.

Maladaptive strategies, rigid strategies or relying on one type of coping method lead to increase in the stress. Social support helps reduce the effect of stress. People may provide help, advice, material support or moral support that helps to reduce stress.

In addition to the above, psychotherapy (Beck’s cognitive therapy, Ellis’s rational emotive therapy and Meichenbaum’s stress- inoculation training), skill training, environmental changes, Bio-feedback (control of physical signs such as Blood pressure, headache, etc), family therapy, group therapy, hypnosis, yoga, are found to be very useful. Finally, uses of drugs are some of the other strategies adopted in coping with stress.

Related Articles:

• Essay on Tension: Meaning, Causes and Effects
• Stress: Meaning, Causes and Suggestions to Manage It
• Essay on Stress: Top 7 Essays | Human Behaviour | Psychology
• Emotions in Children: Meaning, Effects and Hints | Term Paper | Psychology

Header menu - Mobile | United Kingdom

Header menu - drawer | united kingdom.

How to manage and reduce stress

This content discusses depression, anxiety and alcohol or drug use, which some people may find triggering.

This guide provides you with tips on how to manage and reduce stress

Stress is a feeling of being under abnormal pressure, whether from an increased workload, an argument with a family member, or financial worries.

You can read the guide below, download it as a PDF or buy printed copies in our online shop .

What is stress?

Stress affects us in lots of ways, both physically and emotionally, and in varying intensities.

Research has shown that stress can sometimes be positive. It makes us more alert and helps us perform better in certain situations. However, stress has only been found to be beneficial if it is short-lived. Excessive or prolonged stress can lead to illnesses such as heart disease and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression .

During situations that make you feel threatened or upset, your body creates a stress response. This can cause a variety of physical symptoms, change the way you behave, and lead you to experience more intense emotions.

Physical symptoms of stress

People react differently to stress. Some common symptoms of stress include sleeping problems, sweating, or a change in appetite.

Symptoms like these are triggered by a rush of stress hormones in your body which, when released, allow you to deal with pressures or threats. This is known as the ‘fight or flight’ response. Hormones called adrenaline and noradrenaline raise your blood pressure, increase your heart rate and increase the amount you sweat. This prepares your body for an emergency response. These hormones can also reduce blood flow to your skin and reduce your stomach activity. Cortisol, another stress hormone, releases fat and sugar into your system to boost your energy.

As a result, you may experience headaches, muscle tension, pain, nausea, indigestion and dizziness. You may also breathe more quickly, have palpitations or suffer from various aches and pains. In the long term, you may be putting yourself at risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Humans have inherited these things from our ancient ancestors, who needed to be able to either run away from danger or stay and fight. Once the pressure or threat has passed, your stress hormone levels usually return to normal. However, if you’re constantly under stress, these hormones remain in your body, leading to the symptoms of stress. If you’re stuck in a busy office or on an overcrowded train, you can’t run away, so you can’t use up the chemicals your own body makes to protect you. Over time, the build-up of these chemicals and the changes they produce can be damaging to your health.

Behavioural and emotional effects of stress

When you are stressed you may have lots of different feelings, including anxiety, irritability or low self-esteem, which can lead you to become withdrawn, indecisive or tearful.

You may have periods of constant worry, racing thoughts, or repeatedly going over the same things in your head. Some people experience changes in their behaviour. They may lose their temper more easily, act irrationally or become more verbally or physically aggressive. These feelings can feed on each other and produce physical symptoms, which can make you feel even worse. For example, extreme anxiety can make you feel so unwell that you then worry you have a serious physical condition.

Identifying the signs of stress

Everyone experiences stress. However, when it affects your life, health and well-being, it’s important to tackle it as soon as possible. While stress affects everyone differently, there are common signs and symptoms for you to look out for:

• Feelings of constant worry or anxiety
• Feelings of being overwhelmed
• Difficulty concentrating
• Mood swings or changes in mood
• Irritability or having a short temper
• Difficulty relaxing
• Low self-esteem
• Eating more or less than usual
• Changes in sleeping habits
• Using alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs to relax
• Aches and pains, particularly muscle tension
• Diarrhoea and constipation
• Feelings of nausea or dizziness
• Loss of sex drive

If you experience these symptoms for a prolonged period of time, and feel they are affecting your everyday life or making you feel unwell, speak to your GP. Ask them for information about the support services and treatments available to you.

What causes stress?

All sorts of situations can cause stress. The most common involve work, money matters and relationships with partners, children or other family members.

Stress can be caused either by major upheavals and life events such as divorce, unemployment, moving house and bereavement, or by a series of minor irritations such as feeling undervalued at work or arguing with a family member. Sometimes, there are no obvious causes. As a result, you may experience headaches, muscle tension, pain, nausea, indigestion and dizziness. You may also breathe more quickly, have palpitations or suffer from various aches and pains. In the long term, you may be putting yourself at risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Relationships and stress

Relationships are a great support in times when we feel stressed. However, from time to time the people close to you, be it a partner, parent, child, friend or colleague, can increase your stress levels.

Events such as ongoing minor arguments and disagreements, to larger family crises, such as an affair, illness or bereavement are likely to affect the way you think, feel and behave. This may consequently have an impact on your stress levels. Find out more about investing in healthy relationships .

Work-life balance and stress

The pressure of an increasingly demanding work culture in the UK is one of the biggest contributors to stress among the general population.

While current, average full-time working hours are 37 hours a week, a recent and dramatic rise in Britain’s working hours suggests this is already on the increase. 20.1% of the UK working population work 45 hours or more each week.

The human costs of unmanaged work-related stress is extensive. Feeling unhappy about the amount of time you spend at work and neglecting other aspects of life because of work may increase your vulnerability to stress. Increased levels of stress can, if not addressed early enough, lead to burnout or more severe mental health problems.

Mental health problems such as anxiety and depression are thought to be the leading cause of work absences, accounting for up to 40% of sick leave. In 2008, mental health accounted for 442,000 cases of work-related illness with a related estimated cost of £13.5 million. As a result, mental ill-health now accounts for a significant proportion of long-term sickness and early retirement, cited as the leading cause of illness for 20% of NHS employees.

Money and stress

Money and debt concerns place huge pressure on us, so it comes as no surprise that they have a marked effect on our stress levels.

The effects of the cost-of-living crisis in 2022 has affected everyone in some capacity. A survey of 3000 adults commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation in November 2022 found that one in ten UK adults was feeling hopeless about their financial circumstances. More than one-third were feeling anxious and almost three in ten were feeling stressed.

The combination of chronic stress and debt can result in depression and anxiety and has been highlighted as a factor linked to suicidal thoughts and attempts. It’s important if you are worried about your finances and debts that you do not try to deal with them alone. There’s a lot of help and support available to you through organisations such as StepChange and Citizens Advice .

You could also talk to your GP or a trusted health professional if you are worried about how debt is affecting your mental and physical health.

Smoking, drinking and drug use and stress

Some people smoke, drink alcohol and use recreational drugs to reduce stress. But, this often makes problems worse.

Research shows that smoking may increase feelings of anxiety. Nicotine creates an immediate, temporary, sense of relaxation, which can then lead to withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

Similarly, people may use alcohol as a means to manage and cope with difficult feelings, and to temporarily reduce feelings of anxiety. But, alcohol can make existing mental health problems worse. It can make you feel more anxious and depressed in the long run. It’s important to know the recommended limits and drink responsibly.

Prescription drugs , such as tranquillisers and sleeping tablets, which may have been prescribed for very good reasons, can also cause mental and physical health problems if used for long periods of time. Street drugs , such as cannabis or ecstasy, are usually taken for recreational purposes. For some people, problems start as their bodies get used to repeated use of the drug. This leads to the need for increased doses to maintain the same effect

How can you help yourself with stress?

Stress is a natural reaction to difficult situations in life, such as work, family, relationships and money problems.

We mentioned earlier on that a moderate amount of stress can help us perform better in challenging situations, but too much or prolonged stress can lead to physical problems. This can include lower immunity levels, digestive and intestinal difficulties such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or mental health problems such as depression. So, it’s important that we manage our stress and keep it at a healthy level to prevent long-term damage to our bodies and minds.

When you are feeling stressed, try to take these steps:

• Realise when it is causing you a problem. You need to make the connection between feeling tired or ill, with the pressures you are faced with. Don’t ignore physical warnings such as tense muscles, over-tiredness, headaches or migraines.
• Identify the causes. Try to identify the underlying causes. Group the possible reasons for your stress into those with a practical solution, those that will get better anyway given time, and those you can’t do anything about. Try to let go of those in the second and third groups – there’s no point in worrying about things you can’t change or things that will sort themselves out.
• Review your lifestyle. Are you taking on too much? Are there things you are doing which could be handed over to someone else? Can you do things in a more leisurely way? You may need to prioritise things you are trying to achieve and reorganise your life so that you are not trying to do everything at once.

You can also help protect yourself from stress in a number of ways:

• Eat healthily. A healthy diet will reduce the risks of diet-related diseases. Also, there is a growing amount of evidence showing how food affects our mood. Feelings of well-being can be protected by ensuring that our diet provides adequate amounts of brain nutrients such as essential vitamins and minerals, as well as water.
• Be aware of your smoking and drinking . Even though they may seem to reduce tension, this is misleading as they often make problems worse.
• Exercise. Physical exercise can be very effective in relieving stress. Even going out to get some fresh air and doing some light physical exercise, like walking to the shops, can help.
• Take time out. Take time to relax. Saying ‘I just can’t take the time off’ is no use if you are forced to take time off later through ill health. Striking a balance between responsibility to others and responsibility to yourself is important in reducing stress levels.
• Be mindful. Mindfulness meditation can be practised anywhere at any time. Research has suggested that it can reduce the effects of stress, anxiety and other related problems such as insomnia, poor concentration and low moods, in some people. The ‘Be Mindful’ website features a specially-developed online course in mindfulness, as well as details of local courses in your area.
• Get restful sleep. Sleeping problems are common when you’re suffering from stress. Try to make sure you get enough rest. For more tips on getting a good night’s sleep, read our guide ‘How to...sleep better’ .
• Don’t be too hard on yourself. Try to keep things in perspective. After all, we all have bad days.

Seeking help for stress

It’s okay to ask for professional help if you feel that you are struggling to manage on your own. It’s also important to get help as soon as possible so you can begin to get better.

The first person to approach is your GP . They should be able to give you advice about treatment, and may refer you to another local professional. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness -based approaches are known to help reduce stress. There are also a number of voluntary organisations which can help you to tackle the causes of stress and advise you about ways to get better.

• Every Mind Matters - The Mental Health Foundation supported the development of the Every Mind Matters stress resource, it offers advice on how to cope with stress.
• Anxiety UK - runs a helpline staffed by volunteers with personal experience of anxiety.
• Citizens Advice - provides free, independent and confidential advice for a range of problems as well as providing information on your rights and responsibilities.
• StepChange - provides help and information for people dealing with a range of debt problems.
• Samaritans - offer emotional support 24 hours a day - in full confidence.
• Specialist mental health services - there are a variety of specialist services that provide a range of treatments, including counselling and other talking therapies . These different services are often coordinated by a community mental health team (CMHT), which is usually based either at a hospital or a local community mental health centre.

Some teams provide 24-hour services so that you can contact them in a crisis. You should be able to contact your local CMHT through your local social services or social work team.

101 tips from you

We’d like to thank everyone who contributed some brilliant tips on how to manage stress. Everybody is different and what works for one person might not work for another. Here are 101 tips, find what works for you and give them a try.

• Meeting a friend
• Setting aside 10 minutes a day to relax and collect my thoughts
• Watching late night TV debates that deal with the realities of the world
• Listening to relaxing music
• Watching funny movies
• Taking a walk in the countryside
• Going to the gym
• Soaking in the bath with lavender oil
• Talking to someone just to vent a little
• Walking the dog
• Getting more sleep
• Reading a book to distract yourself from stressful thoughts
• Do something good for someone else
• Writing a letter to someone to get your feelings across and vent, but not actually sending it
• Painting or drawing
• Book a massage or spend time in a spa with a friend
• Write a list of things to do and cross them off as you do them
• Try putting things into perspective
• Switch off the phone and get some time to yourself
• Do something you like with family or friends like going to a show
• Dancing around in your room to your favourite music
• Going to your friend’s house with another friend and putting the world to rights
• Have a change of scenery
• Go out and meet new people
• Go to a yoga class
• Express your feelings and emotions
• Spend time with positive people around you
• A hot cup of something wonderful, a journal and a pen
• Eat a healthy meal and avoid caffeine
• Getting closer with nature e.g. have a walk on the beach, observing the sunset
• Watch your favourite programme on TV
• Give yourself ‘me time’ just a few minutes to think about pleasant things
• Ask yourself what would other people do
• Thinking of the work you HAVE achieved in a day, rather than what you haven’t done
• Relaxing with reflexology
• Go to uplifting plays, operas and concerts that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up
• Go to bed with a great book 40
• Host a dinner party
• Cheer up someone who is feeling down
• Spend some time doing something you enjoy, like gardening
• Writing down my thoughts
• Play games on the computer
• Avoid putting things off
• Find a quiet place and try to visualise a happy memory
• Do something creative like knitting
• Play a musical instrument
• Play with your pet
• Get some fresh air
• Be gentle to yourself
• Go window shopping
• Write short stories
• Call a loved one
• Talk to a stranger
• Practice CBT (Cognitive behavioural therapy)
• Chat to your friends on Skype or Facebook
• Take a break, even a short one can make a difference
• Going for a walk at lunchtime
• Write poetry
• Eat or drink something you enjoy
• Cuddle a baby (ideally one you know - cuddles with my niece or nephew are amazing for destressing)
• Spend time with children – they really put things in perspective, like ‘Wow there’s a cool cloud’, and remind you of simple things that used to amaze you
• Go out to a Karaoke night
• Imagine living in a different era, maybe wartime or before cars and trains were invented and how much harder life would be
• Bake a cake
• Sitting in a café with a cup of tea and a magazine
• Go for a relaxing swim
• Sit on a park bench and watch the world go by
• Tidy a room or cupboard (other people might find this stressful, but I find it relaxing!)
• Challenge a friend to a game of Scrabble
• Breathe deeply for two minutes, and focus on your breaths
• Make something – knit a scarf, build an Airfix model
• Write a list of the reasons you have to be happy with life
• Take a minute to stretch your body
• Use a relaxing room fragrance or scented candle to create a sense of sanctuary
• Practicing Tai Chi
• Looking at photos of happy memories.
• Have a cup of tea
• Thinking of something you’re looking forward to or something that was fun
• Go to the cinema
• Aquafit classes at lunchtime
• Go for a bike ride
• Listen to the birds singing
• Reminding yourself it could be worse and count your blessings
• Playing board games with your family
• Playing my favourite song and singing it out loud
• Practising calligraphy
• I find moving furniture around the house very soothing
• Write a letter to a loved one
• Play with my children
• Watch some programs on TV
• Go out for a run in the park
• Volunteer at the local homeless shelter, it helps put my worries into perspective
• Play Sudoku or crosswords
• Read some gossip magazines
• Go to a salsa class
• Get a cuddle

Download publication

'how to manage and reduce stress' - available to purchase.

If you feel affected by the content you have read, please see our get help page for support.

Recent news

New mental health strategy provides strong basis for preventing mental health problems in northern ireland.

The Mental Health Foundation today welcomes publication of the Mental Health Strategy 2021-2031 for Northern Ireland.

Was this content useful?

Please wait while we process your request

Writing About Stress Management

Academic writing

Essay paper writing

In our modern and fast-changing world, people face stress very often. It affects the behavior of a person, his or her working capacity, health, as well as relationships with others. Moreover, doctors claim that stress can provoke almost any disease. This phenomenon is an object of conflict studies because any conflict can become a stressor. In this regard, we need to learn as much as possible about stressful influences and the ways to prevent or overcome them. If you’ve got such a task, congratulations! Your essay about stress will be very relevant.

Strange as it may seem, stress has some positive functions; for example, it helps our body to adapt to any changes in the environment. So you can start your paper with the following thesis statement about stress: a correct understanding of positive and negative aspects of stress helps in preserving health and creating conditions for the manifestation of creative abilities, as well as fruitful work.

Information for an essay on stress: definition and physiological basis

Let’s review some definitions of stress. First thing first, an interesting fact for essays about stress: in the XVII century, English scientist Robert Hooke used this word to characterize the ratio of an extended created by a load.

In psychology, stress is an emotional state which is characterized by increased physiological and mental activity. Roughly speaking, this is the way our body reacts to certain stressors.

Stress as a non-specific adaptation mechanism was firstly discovered by the Canadian scientist Hans Selye in 1936. He showed that in response to the different strong impulses, a specific set of changes occurs in the body.

An adaptation mechanism means that with the help of stress, the body adapts to various strong influences while maintaining the level of homeostasis necessary for life. However, this adaptation is not that easy.

It’s also worth noting in essays on the stress that the clinical symptomatology revealed acute and chronic types of stress. Moreover, major symptoms were also outlined: insomnia, pressure in the neck, abdomen, back, chest, and eyeballs, excessive sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, physical anxiety, feeling of fatigue, knee trembling, etc.

Studies show that some more physiological signs of stress include ulcers, migraine, hypertension, back pain, arthritis, asthma, and heart pain. Psychological manifestations include irritability, loss of appetite, depression, and decreased interest in interpersonal relationships.

Material for the “development stages and types of stress” essays

Hans Selye distinguished three stages of stress:

• Alarm. This stage is also known as fight or flight response. During this stage, your brain sends an emergency signal to other parts of your body, which lets those parts know that you’re in a dangerous situation. As your body mobilizes itself to react, you can choose between a fight or flight response.
• Resistance. After the initial shock of a stressful event and having a fight-or-flight response, the body begins to repair itself. It releases a lower amount of cortisol, and your heart rate and blood pressure begin to normalize. Although your body enters this recovery phase, it remains on high alert for a while. If you overcome stress and the situation is no longer an issue, your body continues to repair itself until your hormone levels, heart rate, and blood pressure reach a pre-stress state.
• Exhaustion. If stress lasts for a long time or the stressors involved are extremely intense, the phase of exhaustion inevitably begins. It may cause significant health problems and even lead to death.

Mention in your college stress essay that currently, scientists distinguish eustress (positive stress that mobilizes the body) and distress (negative stress with undesirable harmful effect on the body and mental state). Eustress provokes the activation of cognitive processes, self-awareness, comprehension of reality, and memory enhancement. Distress leads to decreased performance and mental or/and physical problems in the future.

The most common and complete classification which may be presented to the readers of a research paper about stress was proposed by R.T. Wong:

• Intrapersonal stress. It is commonly known that social sphere affects all other spheres of human life. Since each person has to constantly solve various social issues, the interaction with others has a significant impact on our perception and attitude to events.
• Family stress. It includes all the difficulties in maintaining family relationships: household duties, marital problems, intergenerational conflicts, illness and death of relatives, alcoholism, or divorce.
• Work stress. It is usually associated with a heavy workload, lack of control over the results of labor, role uncertainty, and conflicts. Poor security at work, unfair labor conditions, and disruptions can become a source of stress.
• Public stress. This refers to problems experienced by large groups of people; among the major stressors can be economic decline, poverty, bankruptcy, and racial discrimination.
• Environmental stress. It is caused by extreme conditions in the surrounding world: air and water pollution, severe weather conditions, overpopulation, etc.
• Financial stress. The inability to pay the bills, expenditures exceeding income, the emergence of additional expenses – these and other circumstances can cause stress as well.

Provocative factors and signs of a stressful condition for an essay about stress causes and effects

Of course, each person has an individual reaction to stress. You may describe six types of personalities who react to external influences differently in a stress management research paper:

• Ambitious type. These are people with a strong need for success. The causes of stress for them are overload, high level of activity, and lack of understanding of themselves. The main symptoms of stress are insomnia, high blood pressure, heart problems, excessive smoking, and alcohol consumption.
• Calm type. These are dreamy and inactive people who are characterized by low vulnerability to stress. They maintain the balance between work and home chores. However, other people or work pressure can become the causes of stress.
• Conscientious type. This group of people are meticulous, pedantic, dogmatic, stable, and conservative. They believe in authority and obey the rules. For such individuals, the causes of stress are primarily other people who do not follow their plans and behavior patterns.
• Controllable type. These are people who seek to please others and avoid any conflicts. Such personalities are afraid of confrontation and problematic relationships because they act as a primary cause of stress.
• Life-loving type. They are strong, energetic, impulsive, and risky. The causes of stress for them are routine work and excessive internal pressure.
• Anxious type. Such people are highly vulnerable to stress and are worried about possible failures. They are cautious and overly reflective, have high level of anxiety and low self-esteem.

As it was already mentioned, stress can be caused by factors related to work or personal life events. Let’s consider the factors for an essay on stress in the workplace:

• Overload or low workload. For example, the employee was charged with an exorbitant number of tasks for a certain period of time.
• A conflict of roles. Such a situation takes place when the employee faces contradictory demands.
• Uncertainty of roles. Unlike the conflict of roles, the requirements are not contradictory here, but they are vague.
• Uninteresting work. Some studies show that individuals who have a more interesting job show less anxiety and are less prone to physical ailments than people who don’t like their work.

Let’s also consider personal factors for the research papers on stress. It’s apparent that stress can be caused by both positive and negative impacts. But, in most cases, this phenomenon is closely related to the notion of conflict.

The emergence of a preconflict mood or the perception of the situation as a factor threatening the security of one of the parties is a trigger mechanism for the development of conflict behavior. The situation becomes stressful, and the organisms of the involved parties mobilize the adaptive reserves to overcome distress.

Writing a stress management essay

Stress, especially if it is frequent and prolonged, has a negative impact not only on the mental state but also on the physical health of a person. Therefore, an important factor for a healthy lifestyle is stress resistance.

You can provide the following definition of stress resistance in “how to cope with stress?” essay: the ability to overcome difficulties and suppress emotions by showing self-control and tact. Stress resistance is determined by a combination of personal qualities that allow a person to withstand considerable intellectual, volitional, and emotional pressure.

There are several factors that mitigate the impact of difficult situations on mental and physical health. First of all, it is worth mentioning the role of social support in the stress management paper. It includes all types of assistance provided by the people an individual interacts with.

The researchers found that those people who received significant support from friends and relatives showed a less pronounced emotional reaction to frustration and fewer symptoms of illnesses.

Social support is a good medicine not only for the body but also for the soul. Most studies reveal that in periods of severe stress, it is a buffer that mitigates the negative impact of irritating factors. Include this fact in your coping with stress essay!

Let’s consider other factors that contribute to our ability to resist stress. Persistence is the second important positive factor to mention in “ways to reduce stress” essay. This is a combination of certain personality traits that contribute to high resistance to irritants, namely, responsibility, the desire to overcome difficulties, and an internal locus of control. The internal locus of control is a personality trait characterizing an individual’s faith in the fact that all his or her achievements, successes, and failures are the result of his or her own actions and not external factors, such as fate, chance, or luck.

It is also worth writing about such an important trait as optimism in research paper on stress and health. Defining it as a general tendency to expect a positive outcome, scientists have found a correlation between optimism and good physical state. In the course of subsequent research, they showed that optimists and pessimists deal with stress in different ways.

Optimists are focused on actions and problem analysis. They are more eager to seek social support than pessimists and are more inclined to emphasize positive aspects in their assessment of a difficult situation. Pessimists are more likely to concentrate on negative aspects. You may use the following thesis on stress management: optimism is helpful in combating depressive mood, while pessimism might make a person careless in relation to one’s health and less likely to cope with stress.

Stress research paper: writing about ways to improve one’s health

You may consider effective ways to improve health and reduce stress in a research paper on stress management among students. Here are some of them!

It is necessary to discuss the benefits of relaxation step-by-step. Relaxation is a method which helps to get rid of physical and mental stress partially or completely. There are various techniques of relaxation, which are quite easy to master. It does not require special education or even natural talent. But there is one indispensable condition – motivation, i.e. person needs to know why he or she wants to master relaxation.

Concentration

Concentration is another useful method for your research paper on stress management. Inability to concentrate is a factor closely associated with stress. For example, the majority of working women have to perform the duties of housewife, wife, and a mother. Each of these functions requires concentration, maximum attention and, naturally, complete dedication. However, each of these three roles diverts the attention of a woman and can cause a stressful situation.

In this case, concentration exercises are indispensable. They can be performed in any place and at any time of the day. To begin with, it is advisable to train at home: early in the morning, before going to work (or university), or in the evening before going to bed.

Breathing exercises

Also, it will be useful to mention the importance of the breathing exercises in papers on stress management. Each person has the ability to consciously control breathing in order to calm down and relieve tension (both muscular and mental). Thus, proper regulation of breathing can be an effective means of combating stress along with relaxation and concentration. By the way, with the help of such a technique, it’s possible to prevent mood swings.

Writing the essay about the effects of stress on health, it’s worth mentioning that breathing of a calm person is significantly different from the breathing of an individual in a state of stress. Thus, according to the rhythm of breathing, one can determine the mental state of a person.

Alteration of the lifestyle

Components of an active and stress-free lifestyle are the right beginning of a working day, healthy diet, sports activity, high quality of rest and sleep, good relationships with people, and much more.

You can consider the following problem in “stress at work” essay: very often when returning home, people overshare their negative emotions with the family. What should be done to get rid of the daytime impressions? How to cross the doorstep of the house and not to spoil the relative’s mood?

According to the stress management research articles, first of all, it is necessary to establish a good tradition: after returning home from work or university, try some relaxation techniques which were described above. Here are some more pleasant activities that will only take only 10 minutes of your time:

• Sit down in an armchair, relax, and rest calmly.
• Prepare strong tea or make coffee. Sip it for 10 minutes. Try not to think about anything serious during this period of time.
• Turn on your favorite music. Enjoy these wonderful moments. Try to completely immerse yourself in music, disconnecting yourself from anxious thoughts.
• Take a walk in the nearest park or streets.

Self-analysis of stress

Also, you can tell the readers of your paper how to find and explain the reactions of your body to certain stressful situations, i.e. how to determine if you are stressed. It is crucial to understand your own stressors: firstly, distress manifests itself individually for each person; secondly, this way, the you will be able to find the most acceptable way out of the situation that causes it.

The most justified self-analysis method, which is described in almost any good sample research paper on stress management is a stress diary. Within a week (daily, whenever possible), it is necessary to make simple notes: when and under what circumstances the signs of stress were found. It is better to analyze all observations and sensations after work/university or before going to bed when it’s easier to recollect the smallest details.

The analysis of records in the diary helps to determine which events or life situations contribute to stress. After some time, it will be easy to identify repetitive situations that can cause chronic stress or anxiety.

Looking through our own notes and trying to systematize them, you will find that some of the main signs of stress can be seen rather often: irritability, inability to concentrate, muscle tension, a sense of internal pressure, dry mouth, restlessness, fatigue, inexplicable fear, bad mood, frequent headaches, joint pain, and lack of appetite.

After analyzing the notes, it’s possible to determine at what time of the day the stress occurs most often and whether it happens at work or after returning home. State in your stress management essay conclusion that, with the help of such a diary, each individual can find out what hinders him or her from being calm and happy and what causes personal stress.

Autogenic management

You may also discuss in your cause and effect essay about the stress the phenomenon of autogenic management. It is a set of certain principles and methods of management aimed at training and auto-training for maximizing the use of one’s internal potential, i.e. management of stress with the use of psychotherapy.

It should be noted in an essay about the negative effects of stress that autogenic management is still at the initial stage of development in many countries. Before the crisis of 2007-2008, stress management was based on special training and provision of social budget for maintaining the physical health of the employees (for example, workers had the possibility to attend a swimming pool or a gym).  But the world crisis changed everything. Since 2008, the management of each company had to provide ways of reducing the stress of employees in order to boost their morale and increase loyalty.  

Autogenic management is associated with such spheres as management of internal communications, risk management, and conflict management because they exert a stressful influence on the entire staff of the company or some employees.

Among the many techniques, autogenic management seems to be the most effective. Each session is conditionally divided into several modules:

• relaxation;
• auto-training;
• psycho-correction;
• meditation;
• motivation.

Thus, autogenic management is an extremely effective technique that can be used in any labor environment. You can even describe it in a research paper on stress management in armed forces.

First aid for acute stress

If we suddenly find ourselves in a stressful situation, it means that we are under acute stress. Writing a short essay about stress management, you may list some tips that can help the reader get out of the difficult state:

• Anti-stress breathing techniques. Slowly take a deep breath. At the peak of the inhalation, hold your breath for a moment. Then exhale as slowly as possible.
• The concentration of attention. Look around and carefully examine the room in which you are staying. Pay attention to the smallest details, even if you know them well. Try to concentrate completely on this step. Say what you see out loud: ‘Brown table, white curtains, red vase...’ Focusing on each separate object, you will slowly distract yourself. Moreover, it will be easier to direct your attention to the rational perception of the surrounding world.
• Change the atmosphere. It is a good idea to stay alone with your thoughts. If circumstances allow, leave the room in which you experienced acute stress. Go to another room or outside.
• Engage in some kind of activity: start washing clothes, reading a book, or doing physical exercises. The secret to this method is simple: any actions, especially physical work, help us to distract ourselves from internal tension in a stressful situation.

After completing this simple set of techniques, it will be easy to return to what you have been doing previously.

The main effects of stress

We have already considered the causes of stress and ways to combat it. It’s also worth mentioning the consequences of inattention to this problem if you are going to write the effects of stress essay. The general clinical picture is divided into four main categories: cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral consequences that arise due to dysfunction in the central nervous system and immunity.

Cognitive consequences of stress

Cognitive disorders caused by stressors may result in a reduction in quality of life. It is especially critical for adolescence, as early signs of cognitive decline might lead to the development of serious illnesses in the future. Therefore, if you are considering the stress management of youth in universities and schools, it would be very useful to describe these outcomes in an “effects of stress on college students’ success” essay:

• Memory impairment. This phenomenon usually affects the way a person remembers figures and mathematical calculations: phone numbers or simple formulas which he or she often used in everyday life might be forgotten.
• Loss of attention as well as impossibility of even a short-term concentration on any kind of activity.
• Chronic pessimism and nihilism. A person is inclined to refuse any innovations and changes in his or her activity, including work. Practically everything loses its meaning.
• Constant anxiety. Even if the patient is able to start thinking positively at some moment, this phenomenon will be very short-lived. You may provide the following example in “causes and effects of stress among college students” essay: even in the end of the semester, when all the exams are passed successfully, many young people can’t relax and enjoy the holidays because they got accustomed to living in constant stress.

Emotional consequences

It should be noted in an essay about the effects of stress on students that disorders of emotional state also significantly worsen the life of the individual. There are the following negative effects of this type which occur due to constant stress:

• Capriciousness.
• Increased irritability which often turns into active aggression.
• Complete lack of incentives for emotional and cognitive relaxation. During chronic stress, such conditions often lead to the development of quite serious psycho-emotional overloads with the transition to mental disorders.
• A constant feeling of increased fatigue, even after insignificant intellectual or physical labor.
• A sense of social isolation and development of an inferiority complex.
• Stable depressive syndrome.

Physical consequences

Next, let’s consider the examples of negative consequences for the effects of stress on health essay:

• Indigestion that results in food retention in the digestive system, epigastric pain, belching, heartburn, and nausea. These symptoms are characteristic of people suffering from gastritis and peptic ulcer diseases of the stomach and duodenum.
• Increase in blood sugar level, which is associated with impaired insulin production. Physiologically increased concentrations of free glucose in the blood lead to toxic reactions that aggravate overall symptoms.
• Disorders in the work of the cardiovascular system such as high/low blood pressure or heart rate, arrhythmia, and extrasystole. The absence of normal regulation often leads to a loss of consciousness due to the incorrect circulation of blood. The reverse pathological effect is a hypertensive crisis and, as a consequence, strokes or heart attacks.
• Violations of the menstrual cycle in the form of long delays, pain, and so on.

Behavioral consequences

The last group of negative factors for the essay about the effects of stress refers to the behavioral patterns that are deeply rooted in the life of stressful personalities:

• Disorders of appetite. Acute stress is usually characterized by an increase in appetite. With prolonged exposure to stress factors, there is a gradual decrease and, consequently, a complete lack of appetite.
• Sleep disturbances also depend on the types and stages of stress factors. In the early period of stress, drowsiness is usually increased but then it decreases. In the case of the lasting impact of stress factors, a constant lack of sleep is observed, which strongly affects the behavior and appearance of a person.
• Social isolation. Stressed individuals stop keeping in touch even with close friends and relatives.
• Severe nicotine, alcohol, and drug addiction. People resort to these substances in attempts to reduce the severe perception of stress factors.
• The emergence of bad habits, for example, nibbling the nails, scratching the skin, and so on.

Stress management research paper outline and essay structure

The first thing you need to do when is to determine the topic of the paper, understand what problem you want to raise, and what idea to disclose. Your main task is to express your own thoughts in such a way that your reader understands you. But experienced writers also advise creating and adhering to the specific outline. The outline for stress management research paper or essay may be the following:

• Stress essay introduction. In this part, you have to write about the background of the issue and present the thesis statement.
• Main part. It includes your thoughts and reflections (if it’s an essay), and arguments that will confirm your opinion. In order to provide strong argumentation, you need to look for the facts from the scientific literature or think about the examples from real life. If you’re writing a research paper on stress, you should only include the factual information and the analysis of it. Do not add your personal opinion unless you were asked to by your professor, which is a quite rare occurrence.
• Conclusion of stress essay. In the final part, you have to present your little logical resume of what was written and make your own brief conclusions on the issue.

Helpful hints

Below you can find some useful tips on how to write a great paper. Writing an essay is not an easy task, but if you follow the guide step by step, you will be rewarded with high-quality work and an excellent mark!

1. First, you should start writing a draft version of an essay about the positive and negative effects of stress. It is quite difficult to compile a good academic paper at once. If you want to create a truly worthwhile work, always start with writing a draft and then edit your text.

2. Do not use too official or scientific language. Remember that essay is not a report: writing this kind of paper, you have all the opportunities for self-expression. Therefore, make the text interesting and easy to read.

3. Re-read your drafts several times because you can come up with new ideas.

4. Take advantage of other people’s experience. Find a quality example essay about stress management (or even a few) and focus on the style of presentation, arguments, and facts that the author used. This way, you might get a few ideas on how to frame your arguments or present the information you have found.

We hope that this article turned out to be useful, and you will get an excellent mark for your academic paper. Good luck!

Your email address will not be published / Required fields are marked *

Try it now!

Calculate your price

Number of pages:

Order an essay!

Fill out the order form

Make a secure payment

Receive your order by email

Resume services

Situational Job Interview Questions

Situational interview questions, more commonly known as “hypothetical interview questions” are questions an interviewer uses to find out how you would approach certain problems if they…

4th Jun 2018

Descriptive Essay Topics

What if your writing could engage all of the senses of your readers — sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste? Good news: this dream can actually become real with the help of a descriptive…

10th Sep 2018

School Shootings Essay Writing Guide

School shootings are a nightmare scenario for parents, students, and teachers. Unfortunately, massacres in American schools take place quite often. Since the beginning of this year, several cases…

11th Aug 2018

Get your project done perfectly

Professional writing service

Reset password

We’ve sent you an email containing a link that will allow you to reset your password for the next 24 hours.

Please check your spam folder if the email doesn’t appear within a few minutes.

Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Stress — The Importance of Stress Management

The Importance of Stress Management

• Categories: Stress Stress Management

About this sample

Words: 814 |

Published: Jan 29, 2019

Words: 814 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Works Cited

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Stress in America™ 2020: A National Mental Health Crisis. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2020/report-october
• Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385-396.
• Hock, R. R. (2013). Forty studies that changed psychology: Explorations into the history of psychological research. Pearson.
• Mayo Clinic. (2021). Stress management. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/basics/stress-basics/hlv-20049495
• McEwen, B. S. (2012). Brain on stress: How the social environment gets under the skin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(Supplement 2), 17180-17185.
• National Institute of Mental Health. (2021). 5 things you should know about stress. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/stress/index.shtml
• Richards, K. C., & Campania, C. (2015). Is sleep the next vital sign? Assessing sleep quality and stress in nursing. Applied Nursing Research, 28(4), e25-e29.
• Seaward, B. L. (2018). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
• Selye, H. (1956). The stress of life. McGraw-Hill.
• Sharma, M., & Rush, S. E. (2014). Mindfulness-based stress reduction as a stress management intervention for healthy individuals: A systematic review. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 19(4), 271-286.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

• Expert in: Nursing & Health

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 1007 words

2 pages / 1006 words

1 pages / 577 words

2 pages / 873 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Stress is an unavoidable part of life that can have significant effects on physical and mental health. When faced with a stressor, the body initiates a physiological response aimed at helping us confront or avoid the threat. [...]

This essay has explored the relationship between population density and mental health issues, focusing on stress, anxiety, and social alienation. The evidence presented highlights the detrimental effects of crowding on mental [...]

In today's fast-paced and demanding world, stress has become a common experience for many college students. The pressures of academic life, maintaining social relationships, and preparing for the future can all contribute to [...]

Stress is a natural response to challenging situations that can be beneficial in small doses. However, chronic stress can have negative impacts on both our physical and mental health. Therefore, it is essential to understand the [...]

For many people, a low-grade amount of stress is a part of everyday life. So, they may not recognize that it has a negative impact on their overall health. Studies have shown that feeling stress or anxiety on a long-term basis [...]

At some point in our lives, most of us have found ourselves in situations where we feel like we are under too much pressure mentally. This kind of stress may come from literally any aspect of life, but it is mostly attributed to [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer: Stress (Real IELTS Test)

by Dave | Real Past Tests | 2 Comments

This is an IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer taken from the real test related to reducing stress.

Here it is:

Many psychologists recommend that the best way to relieve stress is to do nothing at all for a period of time during the day. Do you agree or disagree? Real Past IELTS Tests

The structure of the essay is an agree/disagree essay.

For these IELTS essays you must choose a side. You can write about both sides but by the end you must choose an overall point of view.

If you don’t, you will get band 5 for task achievement.

It is a seemingly simple question but when I started to write about it there are a couple of thorny (difficult) issues.

The question is about whether or not taking a break is the best way to reduce stress.

If you write about how taking a break is the best way to reduce stress – it is really hard!

That is because it is obvious: take a break = less stress. How can you further support that?

Read below to see what I did with the question.

You can read more about IELTS structures here .

My exclusive essays are available only on Patreon .

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer: Stress

Many pschologists recommend that the best way to relieve stress is to do nothing at all for a period of time during the day. Do you agree or disagree? Real Past IELTS Tests

One of the most pressing issues for first world countries is how to reduce their stress levels and this has led some psychologists to propose a daily period of rest. Although I think that daily rest would be helpful, it is more important to take an active role in stress relief.

Proponents of a rest period suggest that taking a break has proven health benefits related to stress reduction. It is very common in Latin American countries and some Southeast Asian countries to take an afternoon ‘siesta’ or short nap before resuming work. Research has supported the myriad health benefits related to this stress-free period. It lowers blood pressure, increases serotonin in the brain, and aids memory function. Besides the statistics from studies that breaks reduce stress, there is also anecdotal evidence that taking a break energises people in both the short and long term. Plowing on without breaks, on the contrary, can lead to an increase in stress and has been linked to related health problems.

Instead of taking a rest, I believe that joining a team sport will do more to relieve stress. Doctors and scientists agree that exercise is the best way to cut down on stress overall. In most parts of the world, football is the most common sport both to watch and participate in. Playing football reduces your stress by releasing endorphins in the brain that make people happier, strengthening the heart to better withstand stressful situations, and helping people to relax by working in a team towards a shared goal. The teamwork aspect cannot be underestimated, and is integral to most sports, as it does more to reduce stress and reset your body for a new day than any other activity.

To conclude, although taking a rest certainly helps reduce stress, the best way to unwind is to play a sport. People should set aside time at least once a week to partake in team sporting activities.

1. One of the most pressing issues for first world countries is how to reduce their stress levels and this has led some psychologists to propose a daily period of rest. 2. Although I think that daily rest would be helpful, it is more important to take an active role in stress relief.

• The first sentence restates/paraphrases the main topic for the essay. Don’t spend a lot of time on this – write it quikly and get going!
• The second sentence gives my opinion – be clear and choose a side!

1. Proponents of a rest period suggest that taking a break has proven health benefits related to stress reduction. 2. It is very common in Latin American countries and some Southeast Asian countries to take an afternoon ‘siesta’ or short nap before resuming work. 3. Research has supported the myriad health benefits related to this stress-free period. 4. It lowers blood pressure, increases serotonin in the brain, and aids memory function. 5. Besides the statistics from studies that breaks reduce stress, there is also anecdotal evidence that taking a break energises people in both the short and long term. 6. Plowing on without breaks, on the contrary, can lead to an increase in stress and has been linked to related health problems.

• The first sentence is a topic sentence giving the main idea for the whole paragraph – health benefits related to stress.
• My second sentence begins a specific example. Try to be as specific as possible.
• The third sentence continues to support the same main idea with research.
• The fourth sentence gives specific examples of the parts of the brain impacted by taking a break.
• My fifth sentence further supports the same main idea.
• The last sentence concludes the paragraph by using a counter-point to again support my main idea. Focus on 1 main idea, fully developed!

1. Instead of taking a rest, I believe that joining a team sport will do more to relieve stress. 2. Doctors and scientists agree that exercise is the best way to cut down on stress overall. 3. In most parts of the world, football is the most common sport both to watch and participate in. 4. Playing football reduces your stress by releasing endorphins in the brain that make people happier, strengthening the heart to better withstand stressful situations, and helping people to relax by working in a team towards a shared goal. 5. The teamwork aspect cannot be underestimated, and is integral to most sports, as it does more to reduce stress and reset your body for a new day than any other activity.

• The first sentence of the second paragraph is also a topic sentence with my main idea – doing a sport does more to reduce stress overall. Notice that I keep my opinion weak – it has a greater overall impact.
• My second sentence begins my support for this main idea.
• The third sentence focuses on the very specific example of football.
• My next sentence details the specific ways that football reduces stress – be as specific as possible.
• The final sentence adds more support for the same main idea – sports do more to help reduce stress.

1. To conclude, although taking a rest certainly helps reduce stress, the best way to unwind is to play a sport. 2. People should set aside time at least once a week to partake in team sporting activities.

• The first sentence of my conclusion restates my opinion – make sure that you have a clear, overall opinion!
• My final sentence gives an extended detail that most examiners require for band 7+ for task achievement. Read more about it here .

Try to figure out what the words in bold mean below or think of a synonym for each one, then check your answers in the answer key:

One of the most pressing issues for first world countries is how to reduce their stress levels and this has led some psychologists to propose a daily period of rest. Although I think that daily rest would be helpful, it is more important to take an active role in stress relief .

Proponents of a rest period suggest that taking a break has proven health benefits related to stress reduction. It is very common in Latin American countries and some Southeast Asian countries to take an afternoon ‘ siesta ‘ or short nap before resuming work . Research has supported the myriad health benefits related to this stress-free period. It lowers blood pressure , increases serotonin in the brain, and aids memory function . Besides the statistics from studies that breaks reduce stress, there is also anecdotal evidence that taking a break energises people in both the short and long term. Plowing on without breaks , on the contrary, can lead to an increase in stress and has been linked to related health problems.

Instead of taking a rest, I believe that joining a team sport will do more to relieve stress. Doctors and scientists agree that exercise is the best way to cut down on stress overall. In most parts of the world, football is the most common sport both to watch and participate in . Playing football reduces your stress by releasing endorphins in the brain that make people happier, strengthening the heart to better withstand stressful situations, and helping people to relax by working in a team towards a shared goal . The teamwork aspect cannot be underestimated , and is integral to most sports, as it does more to reduce stress and reset your body for a new day than any other activity.

pressing issues important problems

first world countries rich, developed countries

reduce their stress lessen anxiety

propose suggest

active role more proactive about

stress relief reducing stress

proponents supporters

siesta break

resuming work getting back to work

myriad health benefits many ways it is good for health

lowers blood pressure good for your heart

serotonin a chemical in the brain

aids memory function helps you remember better

statistics figures/facts

anecdotal hearsay

energises gives energy to

plowing on without breaks continuing to work without stopping

cut down on reduce

participate in take part in

releasing endorphins making you happier

strengthening making stronger

withstand get through

shared goal common purpose

underestimated think too little of

integral essential

reset your body recharge

unwind relax

set aside time make time for

partake participate in

Pronunciation

ˈprɛsɪŋ ˈɪʃuːz   fɜːst wɜːld ˈkʌntriz   rɪˈdjuːs ðeə strɛs   prəˈpəʊz   ˈæktɪv rəʊl   strɛs rɪˈliːf prəˈpəʊnənts   sɪˈɛstə rɪˈzjuːmɪŋ wɜːk ˈmɪrɪəd hɛlθ ˈbɛnɪfɪts ˈləʊəz blʌd ˈprɛʃə serotonin eɪdz ˈmɛməri ˈfʌnŋkʃən stəˈtɪstɪks   ˌænɪkˈdəʊt(ə)l   ˈɛnəʤaɪzɪz   ˈplaʊɪŋ ɒn wɪˈðaʊt breɪks kʌt daʊn ɒn   pɑːˈtɪsɪpeɪt ɪn rɪˈliːsɪŋ endorphins   ˈstrɛŋθənɪŋ   wɪðˈstænd   ʃeəd gəʊl ˌʌndəˈrɛstɪmeɪtɪd ˈɪntɪgrəl   ˌriːˈsɛt jɔː ˈbɒdi   ʌnˈwaɪnd   sɛt əˈsaɪd taɪm   pɑːˈteɪk  

Vocabulary Practice

Remember and fill in the blanks:

One of the most ____________________ for ____________________ is how to ____________________ and this has led some psychologists to ____________________ a daily period of rest. Although I think that daily rest would be helpful, it is more important to take an ____________________ in ____________________ .

____________________ of a rest period suggest that taking a break has proven health benefits related to stress reduction. It is very common in Latin American countries and some Southeast Asian countries to take an afternoon ‘ ____________________ ‘ or short nap before ____________________ . Research has supported the ____________________ related to this stress-free period. It ____________________ , increases ____________________ in the brain, and ____________________ . Besides the ____________________ from studies that breaks reduce stress, there is also ____________________ evidence that taking a break ____________________ people in both the short and long term. ____________________ , on the contrary, can lead to an increase in stress and has been linked to related health problems.

Instead of taking a rest, I believe that joining a team sport will do more to relieve stress. Doctors and scientists agree that exercise is the best way to ____________________ stress overall. In most parts of the world, football is the most common sport both to watch and ____________________ . Playing football reduces your stress by ____________________ in the brain that make people happier, ____________________ the heart to better ____________________ stressful situations, and helping people to relax by working in a team towards a ____________________ . The teamwork aspect cannot be ____________________ , and is ____________________ to most sports, as it does more to reduce stress and ____________________ for a new day than any other activity.

To conclude, although taking a rest certainly helps reduce stress, the best way to ____________________ is to play a sport. People should ____________________ at least once a week to ____________________ in team sporting activities.

Reading Practice

Read and review the causes of anxiety and stress:

https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/causes-anxiety

Comment any questions that you have below!

Recommended For You

Recent IELTS Writing Topics and Questions 2024

by Dave | Sample Answers | 342 Comments

Read here all the newest IELTS questions and topics from 2024 and previous years with sample answers/essays. Be sure to check out my ...

Latest IELTS Writing Task 1 2024 (Graphs, Charts, Maps, Processes)

by Dave | Sample Answers | 147 Comments

These are the most recent/latest IELTS Writing Task 1 Task topics and questions starting in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and continuing into 2024. ...

Find my Newest IELTS Post Here – Updated Daily!

by Dave | IELTS FAQ | 18 Comments

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer: Foreign Languages (Cambridge 13)

by Dave | Cambridge 13 | 47 Comments

  This IELTS Writing Task 2 sample answer is from a past paper and was published in Cambridge 13. The topic is foreign languages and it ...

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer: Music Bringing People Together (IELTS Cambridge 14)

by Dave | Cambridge 14 | 12 Comments

This is an IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer from Cambridge 14 (a book of real past tests) about the topic of music and how that ...

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Very well-written essay. It was very interesting to read it and I feel like I have learned a thing or two from it. Just a quick comment: I’d prefer using more appropriate nomenclatures like developed countries or leading nations to first world, because first world may sound offensive to some people, especially those from underdeveloped (or third-world as you might say) countries. Also, first-world is an outdated term, implying countries that were aligned with the United States, and other westernized countries as opposed to countries that aligned with the former-Soviet Union.

Cheers, Duy Anh

Thank you, Duy Anh. Great points! I was trying to paraphrase but you are absolutely correct that first-world / third-world have rightly fallen out of usage in general.

Exclusive Ebooks, PDFs and more from me!

Sign up for patreon.

Don't miss out!

"The highest quality materials anywhere on the internet! Dave improved my writing and vocabulary so much. Really affordable options you don't want to miss out on!"

Minh, Vietnam

Hi, I’m Dave! Welcome to my IELTS exclusive resources! Before you commit I want to explain very clearly why there’s no one better to help you learn about IELTS and improve your English at the same time... Read more

Patreon Exclusive Ebooks Available Now!

Take Control of Your Stress and Burnout

To beat burnout and reduce stress, you must make a plan..

Posted August 7, 2024 | Reviewed by Monica Vilhauer

• What Is Stress?
• Take our Burnout Test
• Find counselling to overcome stress
• Burnout is an unmitigated chronic stress induced condition.
• Stress and burnout do not go away on their own.
• To eliminate stress and burnout you must take control and make plans.
• The plan and process do not have to be complicated.

I have written quite a few posts for Psychology Today about stress and burnout ( See my posts ). I am frequently asked what is the single most important action I can take to address burnout and its underlying stressors. Although stress reactivity is tremendously complicated, involving intricate neurotransmitter, hormone , and immune system interactions, coupled with psychological underpinnings such as developmental issues, schemas, perception, prior operant conditioning , habituated patterns, neural pathways, and memory storage and retrieval, the answer to the question is quite simple: Actively take control of your stress that causes burnout!

Burnout is caused by longitudinal, unmitigated, chronic stress (Comer, 2020). Mitigating it requires a unique plan: You must manage it. Stress and burnout do not vanquish on their own. In fact, chronic stress is well reported to lead to many pathologies, both physiologically and psychologically (Comer, 2020).

When does the stressor occur?

To create a successful plan, you must first think about the underlying causal factors leading to chronic stress-induced burnout from three temporal aspects: proactive, concurrent, and retroactive (see Figure 1).

Proactive — this entails taking steps to prevent stress from ever occurring.

Concurrent — this means learning to handle stress when it actually occurs, in the moment.

Retroactive — this involves evaluating your stress after it has occurred and defining ways to address and release it.

Considering these three time-based aspects of stress can be helpful for learning more about your unique stressors.

For example, my doctoral dissertation was on post traumatic stress in veterans (Comer, 2020). A veteran may have been diagnosed with PTS, which is the retroactive component of stress — that is, the trauma producing stressors have already occurred and plans to address them must be retroactively applied to reduce the symptoms of an event that cannot be changed. This is by far the most difficult way to deal with stress.

On the other hand an active duty service member may be going through actual combat in the moment. This requires concurrent stress management — using techniques to mitigate the active occurrence to stress reactivity to be able to continue functioning optimally (i.e., not succumbing to flight or fright psychophysiolocial responses, which can prove devastating during actual emergent stressors).

Finally, when a young man or woman enters military service, there is a tremendous opportunity to train the person in advance of ever entering combat so that he/she is prepared to handle stress more effectively when is occurs. This is a proactive plan and is what most military training is based on. It is by far the best time to deal with stress because it has not yet even occurred.

These concepts do not have to be in the sole purview of military operations. They can be applied to any aspect of your life where stressors are present.

The second step is making a plan

Once you have determined when the stressor will occur, is occurring, or has occurred, you can think about creating your strategy for dealing with it. An easy and effective method is to Identify, Prepare, Execute, and Review (see figure 2).

Identify — Identify the stressor that leads to dysregulated behavior. For example, perhaps you struggle with a rude co-worker who frequently upsets you. Simply identifying and acknowledging the stressor can be therapeutic itself.

Prepare — this is when you plan specific actions to mitigate the effects of the stressor. In this case, how can you take steps to address the rudeness of the co-worker? For example, you can walk the other way when you see the person, or tell the person that you are busy working on a project, or maybe you want to address the person's rudeness directly and explain how it makes you feel.

The options are endless. But the key is that you are taking active control of what you can — building upon the concept of an internal locus of control .

Execute — the best laid plans are completely useless if you do not implement them. Take your action plan and apply it the next time the stressor presents itself. This furthers your sense of control and active engagement.

Revise — finally, review your action(s) and determine the level of effectiveness. Make revisions as necessary.

By following this simple process, you will find relief just from the fact that you are trying to exercise control of your stress. Hopefully, you will also find an action that works! And make sure that you positively reinforce yourself by acknowledging the fact that you took action to improve a difficult situation and did not allow stressors causing chronic stress and burnout to roll over you.

Comer, W.J. (2020). Mindfulness-based treatments for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: A systematic literature review. Doctoral Dissertation. California Southern University, Costa Mesa, CA

Jeff Comer, Psy.D., is a hospital-CEO-turned-psychologist who writes about the neurochemical components of stress and burnout.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• International
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• Switzerland
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

Sticking up for yourself is no easy task. But there are concrete skills you can use to hone your assertiveness and advocate for yourself.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

How to Manage Stress at Work Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Stress is among the major costly and significant cause of health troubles and mental agony. Stress at work place is considered the major primary stressor. Work stress is thought to affect individuals psychological and physical health as well as the organizations effectiveness in adverse manner. Work stress is one of the ailments that are acknowledged worldwide to be affecting the healthiness of the organization and the health or workers.

Workers who are stressed out will probable have a low motivation towards their work. In addition, stress can be detrimental to such member of staff as it possesses potential danger to their safety at work and in generally their efficiency is extremely low.

Pressures at workplace and at home can cause stress. Sometimes it may be beyond employees mandate to protect the staff against the stress caused by external factors for instance domestic strife but they can protect them from the stress that arises from work (Mandler, 2008).

Stress has proved to be a major challenge in the realization of the organization objectives. It may have adverse effects on the organization and the workers. Effective and good management and an aspect of good organizational structure and culture play a vital role in stress prevention.

In case the staffs are already stressed, the management should be aware of the situation and possibly devise a mechanism of addressing the challenge. There is generally low or minimal stress when one is adorned with resources, time, and experience to manage the challenges in any given situation.

Stress can be viewed as a negative experience that deprives the organization of the productivity potential and it is an inevitable consequence of an occurrence. Stress depends on the peoples perceptions and attitudes towards a given situation and this determines how they will cope with the situation.

To be able to develop stress management strategy for any organization, it will be essential to understand the causes of the stress in any given organization (Davis, Eshelman, McKay & Fanning, 2006).

Causes of Stress and Solutions

There are many possible causes of stress in any work set-up. It is vital to recognize and identify the main causes of stress in any organization and be able to develop mechanism of coping up with the challenges that stress at work is likely to present.

Among the typical stress, inducers include the cases of excess workload which most of them do not have realistic deadlines to deliver, this is likely to make people rush, and this puts the employees under pressure. Most of the people are overwhelmed in these situations. On the contrary having insufficient workloads may also result in stress as the individuals feel underemployment and their skills are not being maximized.

In such scenarios, one feels the organizations may not appreciate the potential at their disposal. It would be important to define clearly the tasks to be done in any given timeframe and both the interested parties to be involved in the generation of the work plan that will guide the operations or the activities to be done at any given time.

Another possible cause of stress is when one lacks control of the work he or she is in charge. The lack of control of the activities at work may result in one being stressed since the individuals cannot plan or organize the work according to his or her wish. Poor working relationship and lack of interpersonal support is likely to affect ones performance in any organization.

Such scenarios make staff feel isolated and their general lack of coordination of the activities in the organization. In such cases, it is very important to define the line of command and the individual’s area of jurisdiction to minimize conflicts (Davis, Eshelman, McKay & Fanning, 2006).

The demands on individuals to do the job that they do not have experience on may also expose one to stress conditions. Having insufficient training in most of the tasks one is involved in is likely to frustrate one in carrying out their responsibilities at the organization. Here most individuals are not able to deliver and are at risk as a result of fear of not being able to deliver the expected outputs in a given task assigned to them.

It is important that the right people are employed for the right job. During hiring, it would be important for the supervisor of any individuals to go through the job descriptions and evaluation to be done to identify the training needs that the staff may need to be able to perform the given task effectively.

There are also challenges associated with promotion into a new position. Most people find it difficult to settle when given a new position especially when it comes to promotions.

The requirements for adapting to a new office contribute to such pressure. Such challenges come with the more demands that the position presents and the changes in the possible relationship and associations with colleagues. The organization should have clearly defined rules governing promotions and pay increment procedures that are transparent where every due recognition must be given t9o the deserving individual

There are concerns related to job security, most people feel under pressure to deliver in order to be guaranteed their job. Such scenarios lead to people working extra hours and sometimes out themselves under unnecessary pressure with an aim to impress. This can be said to be caused by lack of other career opportunities, which leads individuals to stick to the job they may not be comfortable with.

People also get stress as they strive to get pay rise or attain a certain level of pay level. Most of the jobs pay individuals based on the output and most of the jobs are such that the more you work the more the possible returns. It will be essential to cultivate the culture where individuals explore mechanisms of working smart rather than working hard. Working harder has shown to detrimental to people physical and health situation.

There are also cases of harassment and bullying that is reported in most organization. This usually happens in all levels of work. The causes for the bullying and harassment are believed to be varied from the racial factors, gender, age, and affiliation in the organization. Cases of sexual harassment have gone unattended because the victims fear the stigmatization that may result.

Such cases have been reported in most organization where men and women have been sexually exploited at the expense of their ethical believes and subscriptions and this has led to many suffering in silence (Muchinsky, 2009). It will be essential for the system to have in place an amicable mechanism that is able to address such cases without making the fuss on the victims.

Most of the racial cases will require the cultivation of the spirit of team work where all the players in organization feel being part of the organization. Such situations will require the top management team lead by example and have an open system where the members work together as a team and not like a gang where consultation is not allowed.

The system must also be open in such a way that appropriate consultation is carried out when any major decision is made that is likely to impact on the life of any staff in the organization to reduce the cases of uncertainty and rise of informal organization.

There are incidences of blame culture where no one wants to be accountable for the action or mistake. The existence of blame culture within any business set up arise when people in the organization are not willing to take responsibility for any action or mistake that has occurred in the organization.

This has resulted in rise in temperature especially when the mistake is likely to have serious effects on the organizations performance or image. It is essential that everybody be trained to take responsibility for his or her actions.

The organizations must clearly define the job profiles for all staff members. Furthermore, the chain of command must be developed and who is in charge of which department be clearly stipulated to reduce uncertainty when it comes to who takes responsibility or credit for any happenings in the department.

Existence of weak and ineffective management in any organization is likely to stress most of the good staff. Such scenarios mostly leave the staff with a sense of absence or lack of direction and this mostly frustrates their effort in pursuing their individuals and organizations goals.

The lack of direction has such far-reaching effect to the organizations performance. On the reverse, there are cases where there is over-management and here we see the employees feeling undervalued in the organization and this may affect their self-esteem. It is very essential for the management to be able to clearly define the lines of command and have an all-inclusive decision making structure in all levels of management.

The organization must have clear organs at the various levels of management. The set up should be in such that the decisions made at operational level are binding. The same should be the case with decisions made at the tactical management level and the strategic management level. The organizations should have an effective decision support system at all levels that are informed of the decisions being made.

All the staff would like to play their role in various levels, the ability of the organizations to delegate the decisions to various levels of management would cultivate the culture of collectiveness, and this would promote the inclusiveness of all the stakeholders in the running of the organization (Hackman, 2007).

In such cases the staff will be motivated and their contribution in various consultative meetings is likely top boost their value to the organizations and their self-esteem.

Another evident cause of stress is the existence of different levels of reporting and mostly with different goals and objectives. This can result in conflict, as each manager would like his or her work to be treated as urgent and important. This is likely to put a lot of pressure on the individuals and forced to treat every work on table as very urgent and important.

Operating in such a quadrant may result to individual breakdown and there are tendencies of poor performance. It will be essential for all the managers to be consulted when drafting the work plan of the staff to minimize the conflict of interest when carrying out the work when one is reporting to multiple managers. This is likely to be achieved when the time allocated for serving each manager is well documented as specified.

There must be a working mechanism put in place to addressing the possible conflicts that may arise in such circumstances. The staff must be advised on how to plan the work and be able to given promises on what he or she can realistically deliver.

Planning your work is likely to reduce the last minute rush to meet every deadline. Having ones, priority right is likely to productively, guide individual’s performance in such cases (Muchinsky, 2009).

The failure by the management to inform the employees of any impending changes is likely to result in stress. Decisions that are likely to have a long term effect on the future of the employees must be communicated clearly to the staff and there should be a reliable conflict address system in place to act as mediators in case such decisions are likely to affect the operations in the organizations (Hackman, 2007).

Determination of the stress causes and addressing the challenges is very important in the survival of any organization. The procedure will always take into account the job analysis of the staff, the psychological assessment of the employees and the management, the legal issues related with the personnel selection and hiring procedures.

All these must be factored when determining the effective program to address the already stressed staff or reduce the likelihood of the situation from deteriorating.

Davis M., Eshelman E., McKay M. & Fanning P. (2006). The Relaxation and stress reduction workbook. California, CA: New Harbinger Publication.

Hackman, R.J. (2007). Leading teams setting the stage for great performances. Massachusetts, MA: Harvard University Press.

Mandler, G. (2008). Thought, memory and learning: Effects of emotional stress . New York, NY: Free Press.

Muchinsky, P.M. (2009). Psychology applied to work. 9th Ed. Summerfield, NC: Hypergraphic Press.

• Techniques Employed by Managers in Ensuring Success of Plans in their Firms
• Motivation Role in Organizational Management
• Effects of Rotting on Timber and Pre-Stressed Concrete Method
• Physiological Mechanism of Stress
• Stand and Deliver
• “Constructing Factors Related to Worker Retention”
• Individual Leadership Plan
• The Concept of Organization Structure and Teamwork
• Sony's Evolving Human Resource Challenges
• Employee Selection Strategies
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, June 6). How to Manage Stress at Work Essay. https://ivypanda.com/essays/stress-management-in-the-workplace/

"How to Manage Stress at Work Essay." IvyPanda , 6 June 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/stress-management-in-the-workplace/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'How to Manage Stress at Work Essay'. 6 June.

IvyPanda . 2019. "How to Manage Stress at Work Essay." June 6, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/stress-management-in-the-workplace/.

1. IvyPanda . "How to Manage Stress at Work Essay." June 6, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/stress-management-in-the-workplace/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "How to Manage Stress at Work Essay." June 6, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/stress-management-in-the-workplace/.

Watch CBS News

What is cortisol? How to lower levels amid concerns over "cortisol face"

By Sara Moniuszko

Edited By Paula Cohen

August 8, 2024 / 12:06 PM EDT / CBS News

"Cortisol face"  is a trending topic on TikTok — but what is cortisol, exactly? And can it really impact your face shape? 

Cortisol is a hormone that mainly helps regulate your body's response to stress.

TikTok users have recently garnered attention with videos blaming increased stress, which can stimulate the release of cortisol, for facial puffiness and swelling, which they refer to as "cortisol face."

Experts say that while the hormone can impact your face in some ways, it's not like some of the posts suggest.

Cortisol can affect your skin by increasing oil gland production, which can result in clogged pores and worsening acne.

"When you are stressed, your body releases stress hormones that have a tremendous impact on your entire body, including your skin," dermatologist Dr. Samer Jaber, of Washington Square Dermatology in New York, recently  told CBS News . 

But everyday stress does not raise cortisol levels high enough or long enough to cause significant facial swelling and bloating, CBS Boston's Dr. Mallika Marshall explained . If you are feeling a little more puffy than usual, Marshall said to limit your salt intake, drink more water and get adequate sleep. 

People with Cushing syndrome, who have chronically high levels of cortisol, and people who take steroids for long periods of time, can develop what's known as "moon facies," or a "moon face." This refers to the buildup of fat on either side of the face, which gives it a rounder or puffier appearance. 

Earlier this year, Amy Schumer revealed her Cushing syndrome diagnosis after receiving comments about her appearance following several TV interviews. The actress and comedian said her condition was caused by getting steroid injections in high doses, which are sometimes prescribed to treat endometriosis , although Schumer did not specify why she received them.

Symptoms of high cortisol levels

It's normal to have natural fluctuations of cortisol throughout the day, Dr. Natalie Gentile previously told CBS Pittsburgh .

Blood, urine or saliva tests can be used to measure cortisol levels, but there are also signs that can point to someone with too much cortisol (like someone with Cushing syndrome) or too little cortisol, which is known as adrenal insufficiency.

Common signs and symptoms of higher-than-normal cortisol levels, according to the Cleveland Clinic, include:

• Weight gain, especially in your face and abdomen
• Fatty deposits between your shoulder blades
• Wide, purple stretch marks on your belly
• Muscle weakness in your upper arms and thighs
• High blood sugar
• High blood pressure 
• Excessive hair growth on the face, chest and back
• Weak bones and fractures

Symptoms can vary depending on how elevated cortisol levels are. If you notice persistent swelling of your face, abdomen or legs, see a health care professional to rule out any serious medical conditions, Marshall said.

How to lower cortisol

Keeping cortisol levels at an optimal ranges goes back to "lifestyle basics," Gentile said, which includes getting quality sleep and moving regularly.

"Sleeping is huge for cortisol," she said. "So getting proper, quality sleep — and if you're not, figuring out why."

Other things to keep in mind include hydration , nutrition and mental health, Gentile said. 

"If we can get in more colorful fruits, vegetables, our whole grains, our legumes... that can be very helpful," she said.

For Cushing syndrome or adrenal insufficiency, medical treatment is typically needed to regulate levels, so it's important to talk to a health care professional.

Sara Moniuszko is a health and lifestyle reporter at CBSNews.com. Previously, she wrote for USA Today, where she was selected to help launch the newspaper's wellness vertical. She now covers breaking and trending news for CBS News' HealthWatch.

More from CBS News

How to keep pets safe during the summer heat

Sugar substitute erythritol increases risk for heart attack, study finds

How to help protect your kids from measles as school starts

Thinking about filing for bankruptcy? Explore these 7 options first

Category 6 minutes read

7 revolutionary AI tools for teachers

August 3, 2024

We all know how busy teachers are, but now artificial intelligence tools are on the rise that will help them automate manual work and save time for their students.

The benefits of AI in teaching are huge… 

You can personalize learning experiences more easily by altering content based on what the tool has learned about different students’ abilities. It’s easy to improve grading efficiency and get more data-driven insights about performance. 

Plus what better way to showcase the exciting potential of AI to students who probably will be using it throughout their careers than to put it into your teaching practices? 

In this article, we’ll take a look at 8 of our favorite AI tools for teachers . This includes our own suite of easy-to-use free tools. 

How can AI help teachers?

Teaching is a time-consuming and demanding job. But the best AI tools for teachers take some of this burden and free up your time to focus on the parts of education that only a human can do! Here’s how:

• AI tutors and chatbots can provide immediate support and assistance even outside of scheduled teaching hours. 
• Creative AI tools for teachers streamline lesson planning and aid with course development while creating personalized learning paths for students. 
• AI tools allow you to provide instant feedback to students, empowering them to identify mistakes and make the necessary adjustments.
• You can get fast insights into student’s performance without having to analyze hundreds of reports.

Best AI tools for teachers:

Here are eight of the best AI tools for teachers . View them in a table for quick insights or read about each in more depth below. You can also check out some more general AI tools here . 

AI tools for creating content

AI tools help you with creative tasks like writing content or designing visually appealing learning materials. There’s no need to use time-consuming applications to write great content and make amazing-looking graphics in 2024!

Picsart’s user-friendly AI tools can transform your presentations and handouts and they’re super easy to learn!

The powerful AI writer can help you save time and produce human-like text from a few simple prompts. For example, to create a lesson plan, all you need to do is: 

• Go to the AI writer 
• Type “Lesson Plan” under “Tell us what you want to create” and add the details below.
• Select “Generate” as many times as you like to get different versions. 

In the massive range of online text tools , you can also:

• Add text to images — for example, to explain a complex concept 
• Check the word count in your documents 
• Locate any Unicode symbol — if you’re a STEM teacher this will be a huge time-saver!

Picsart also includes a huge range of templates to get started quickly on your designs. And you can use these right alongside AI tools. For example, check out our lesson plan template !

Price: Free

AI-powered grading assistants

For so many teachers, their least favorite part of the job is grading. With AI, they no longer have to do so much of it! 

Turnitin Feedback Studio

While Turnitin was originally known for its plagiarism detection, it now offers highly advanced assessment and essay grading that reliably mark student’s work to a high standard.

The software is also specifically developed to promote original content and give learners detailed feedback to improve their writing.

Price: $3 per student

Gradescope is one of the best AI tools for teachers to speed up the marking process and track learning development. It’s able to grade a wide range of essays and assignments to a high standard.

Gradescope’s software is particularly suitable for high-class numbers, and it excels at providing detailed analysis to give teachers clear, actionable insights into student performance.

Price: Basic $1 per student or Team $3 per student

Personalized learning platforms

Personalized learning platforms are AI tools for teachers that tailor learning materials to create bespoke content that’s specific to each student’s individual needs.

Eduaide.AI is built to identify trends in learner behaviors and suggest actionable interventions accordingly.

This helps ensure all students are provided with the support they need. The analytics features of Eduaide.AI allow you to gain a deep insight into learning performance and adjust your teaching delivery to match this.

Price: Free or Pro $5.99 per month

AI-based tutors and chatbots

Let’s face it, you can’t be contactable 24/7 to answer every query possible by students. That’s where tutoring AI tools for teachers come in. They aren’t designed to do your job but instead offer a reliable way for students to get fast and reliable feedback while working.

TeachMateAI

TeachMateAI offers continuous support that helps students tackle assignments. It interacts with students in a very casual human-like way which can help reduce stress and improve student engagement.

It also has essay grading built-in and provides adaptive learning paths that are unique to each student based on its assessments.

Price: $8 per month

Khanmingo is one of the best AI tools if you’re looking to boost your delivery and marking by smoothly integrating AI tutoring with teaching materials and assessment activities.

Where it differentiates itself from other AI tools for teachers is that it integrates with the rest of the Khan Academy platform, including its highly rated and extensive range of teaching videos.

Price: Free for teachers and $4 per month per learner.

ChatGPT is a great tool to use when creating lesson plans, presentations, and handouts. You can ask it to simplify complex information, generate ideas for classroom activities, and create outlines for key topics. 

It’s a great tool if you’re looking for something simple and intuitive to get started with. 

Price: Free. 

The future of teaching

No one knows what the future of any occupation will look like, but one thing’s for sure… Teaching no longer needs to include so much admin! 

AI tools are going to make it easy for you to grade work, personalize learning, create materials, and more. 

If you’d like more tips on designing great content as a teacher (or any other type of worker) keep an eye on our blog!

Related articles

Editing Marketing

How to add multiple photos to your Instagram story

How to create a great Facebook bio + 200 cool examples

The best Instagram bio ideas for 2024