Task 4: Essay (30%)

Ways to Overcome Stress and Depression Among the Students

Nowadays, there are too much challenges and obstacles that students should
face in order to cope with hustle and bustle of life. In order to deal with daily routine as
a student, there are too much of work and assignments to be done in the meantime.
Thus, this hectic life can lead to stress and depression among the students especially
college students. Stress or depression can be defined as a great worry caused by a
difficult situation, or something that causes certain conditions such as headaches,
minor pains, and sleeping difficulties (Cambridge Dictionary, 2013). According to World
Health Organization (WHO), a research findings show that the most stressful type of
work is that which values excessive demands and pressures that are not matched to
someone’s knowledge and abilities, where there is opportunity to exercise any choice
or control, and where there is little support from others.

There are vary kind of factors that can cause stress or depression. The main
factor is academic deadlines such as exams, papers, and projects. Academic means
taking midterms and finals, writing research papers and completing projects. This is,
after all, the hallmark of measuring what they have learned. With a typical semester
load of 15 to 20 credits, many course deadlines can fall on the same day, and there is
the ever-present danger that not meeting expectations can result in poor grades or
academic probation. As an illustration, students in Teachers Education Institute, or well
known as IPG should complete a total of 30 assignments or more in a short period of
time. In fact, they don’t have much time throughout the day because sometimes they
only can do their assignments at night due to activities during the day. However, they
should manage their stress wisely to evade stress from being prolonged and worsen.

There are many effective ways that can be implemented to eliminate stress
totally. Firstly, they should have positive thinking in their minds. Do always says that ‘I
can do better as well as the others. Normally they do not manage their time well, so
they don’t have enough time to complete any work. Despite of the pressure, they
should not complaint about not having enough time. There are many excellent
students scored perfectly in examination. Their secret is nothing but well time
management. A well time management is crucial and can be done by planning a
systematic timetable. A timetable helps a student to schedule their study time, doing
sports, engaging in leisure activities, sleeping hour and mealtimes. They must focus
on completing a task given within the time scheduled and don’t ever try to
procrastinate.
 Secondly, if they have problems, they should talk about their problems to
people whom they can trust. Parents are the best persons to talk to. Others whom they
can seek advice from are teachers and best friend. Talking to someone will make the
problem lighter and bearable. When there is no one to talk to, the counsellors are
always there for them. A counsellor is a person that is trained to listen and give a
shoulder to cry on, giving guidance and suggestions about their problem. The role of
the counsellor is to help individuals respond more appropriately to stressful
predicaments. They help individuals place problems into perspective, developing a
cognitive framework that encourages rational and objective thoughts rather than
cognitions based only on emotions. By seeing a counsellor, students can reduce their
stress and share their problems personally without shame. This is because the
conversation held will be kept as secret only between them.

Next, the other way to cope with stress is by spending time doing favourite
hobbies. Some people find hobbies boring or simply think of them as a waste of time.
What they do not know is that it can do a lot of good for a person physically, mentally
and emotionally. There are numerous hobbies out there to choose from. One can get
into sports such as tennis, golf, basketball, soccer and fishing. Others prefer arts like
photography, drawing and painting. Whatever activity they choose, it will surely result
to their advantage for as long as they enjoy and interested in it, hobby is bound to
improve the quality of life. Doing favourite hobby gives them time to relax. It is a good
way to get rid of stress level in their body. This can be done by diverting their focus.
For example, instead of always thinking of problems, they can spare some of their time
to focus on their hobby.

Lastly, they should get enough sleep. An enough sleep is vital to ensure that
they will have enough energy restored in their body. A quality sleep should be at least
7 to 8 hours per night, while young children and other adults need more, about 9 to 10
hours of sleep per night. If there is a lot of work to do, try to find the best time during
the day and avoid doing it late at night. They also should try to go to bed and wake up
at the same time each night and morning. Routinizing bedtime may help them to teach
their body when it is supposed to go to be tired, aiding in better sleep and less sleep
deprivation. Furthermore, by getting enough sleep, they can concentrate on their study
at university without having any difficulties or misunderstanding.
 To sum up, stress has its own pros and cons and only they can determine either
it is good or bad for them. They should learn to thrive on stress with stress
management. When they learn to manage their stress wisely, they can gain more
confidence, energy, and begin to feel better about themselves. Sporadically, they will
think that they are the most unfortunate to have a lot of things to de done before the
deadlines, but they should acknowledge that they will not succeed unless by facing the
hardships of life.