Stress Management Activities
Introduction
To navigate challenging situations, we need our bodies to produce stress, fight, or flight reactions. Our body responds to an imminent threat by generating stress hormones, stiffening our tendons and muscles, raising the pressure in our blood, and causing our lungs and heart to perform more intense, as well as generating an increase in sugar and lipids to provide us with energy (Publishing, 2019). Our body resumes regular functions whenever a threat is no longer there. Nevertheless, if we experience stress regularly, our immunity may get chronically activated, significantly increasing the likelihood of numerous diseases like heart disease, dementia, and stroke. Inflammation overgrowth is another effect of this. In today’s world, stress is a prevalent issue. I decided to research some fresh stress-reduction strategies to lessen the stress in my life. I selected meditation, relaxation, and nature as my stress-relieving pastimes. Over two weeks, I dedicated at least 20 to 30 minutes a day to each activity. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss my experiences with each strategy and analyze which will be most beneficial to me.
Relaxation Activities
After tossing here and there on how to reduce my stress, my friend proposed a relaxation method for me, which she claimed to be using. Since she seems good at managing her stress well, it became my first target method to try it. Plenty of us associate relaxation with vegging out and watching a small quantity of the channel on a sofa after a demanding day. However, it does not do much to lessen the negative impacts of stress. Instead, I realized that I needed to trigger my body’s natural relaxation reaction, a deep sleep-like condition that reduces stress, lowers my heart and breathing rates, reduces my blood pressure, and restores harmony to my physical being and mental state (Robinson, 2019). While I may have opted to pay for an experienced massage or acupuncturist, I realized I could perform most relaxation exercises independently with the right approach. Nevertheless, it is crucial to remember that only some respond well to a particular relaxation technique. Thus, I tried breathing and visualization techniques that spoke to me.
After five minutes of rhythmic breathing to relax, I closed my eyes and visualized my turbid being as the turbulent stream of water. I can well picture myself sitting by the stream and absorbing everything I can. I see how including every sensory information as possible improves visualization (Godman, 2022). I employ focused concentration over the course of the following 20 minutes to quiet the stream’s churning water. After succeeding, I maintain my composure during the stretch for five minutes before completing my relaxation exercise.
The most frequently performed relaxation is the progressive muscle relaxation that I can perform at any time, place, and situation. Combining the tensing and releasing of muscles progressively from head to toe with the breathing techniques of relaxation. The two have been a great help when dealing with my stress since I can do muscle relaxation even if I am busy.
Nature
Nature is considered a way of transferring our minds from busy thinking and indulging in the beautiful scenery surrounding us. Although life in the savanna differed greatly from how we live today, our mental processes remain essentially unchanged. Despite technological developments, we continue to maintain a strong tie with nature. Scientific evidence suggests that if we do not nurture that connection, we could suffer in numerous ways—our psychological health being just one of them. So I made it a routine to create about 30 minutes to interact with nature whenever I feel stressed. Here, I try to encourage myself to spend at least 20 minutes three times a week in a natural setting for eight weeks. The locations varied, including yards, neighborhood parks, and green spaces close to my employment (Godman, 2022). Throughout their excursions in nature, I also strolled or sat. I venture outdoors to green, natural areas when I am feeling down. I have found that going on a walk in the forests helps me fight depression, and just seeing the natural world from my office has been uplifting when I am sad. Nature offers scenes that softly draw my attention rather than abruptly seizing it and calm my nerves rather than frazzle them.
I occasionally experience feelings of loss and question the purpose of existence. I may be reminded of the world’s amazingness with 30 minutes of nature amazement. Forests that were decades old before my birth, mountains above the horizon, and a sky filled with endless stars are all-natural gifts. Whenever it reaches its mind-blowing awesomeness, nature never ceases to amaze me, sends chills down my spine, and reminds me that I am a small part of a vast cosmos.
Meditation
Meditation was one of the new methods that I gave it a try to try and get rid of my stress and calm my unstable mind. I sometimes consider meditating if stress is making me feel tense, apprehensive, or worried. In approximately 20 minutes, even a brief period of meditation might assist me in regaining my composure and inner serenity. I also understood that anybody can meditate. It is easy and reasonably priced.
Additionally, no special tools are needed. Additionally, I may meditate wherever I am, whether when walking, commuting, waiting in queue for a medical professional, or perhaps amid a challenging company conference. I also realized that meditation is a broader practice for those peace-loving individuals who want to shut themselves from disturbing thoughts, such as myself (Sutton, 2020). Meditation is considered a form of supplementary medicine for the mind and body. Complete relaxation and mental calmness are two effects of meditation. I concentrate throughout the meditation and eliminate the constant stream of disorganized ideas that could be stressing me out. I always hoped this procedure would improve my mental and emotional health.
One of the main meditation activities I explored in my stress reduction technique is the body scan meditation I performed for 30 minutes. This kind of meditation directs my concentration to different areas of my body. I commence at my toes and gradually work upward from there up, similar to progressive muscle relaxation. I merely concentrate on how each area of my body experiences, without classifying the feelings as good or bad, rather than contracting and loosening my muscles.
I typically lay on my back with my legs straight, my arms at my sides, and my eyes shut. I need to concentrate on my inhalation and exhalation for around five minutes before I feel relaxed. I then direct my attention to my right foot’s toes (Sutton, 2020). I was observing any feelings I experienced while keeping my attention on my breathing. I picture the flow of every deep breath reaching my toes. I focus on this region for four to six seconds, if not longer. Then I turn my attention to the bottom of my right foot. I am paying attention to any physical feelings I experience while imagining each breath coming from the bottom of my foot. After a few minutes, I repeated, shifting my attention to my right ankle. I go on to my calf, thigh, knee, and hip before repeating the process on my left leg. I then work my way up the body, traversing the shoulders, chest, upper back, and lower back. I constantly pay special attention to each part of my body that gives me discomfort or hurts. I finish the body scan in 20 minutes and then relax for 5 minutes in peace and stillness while observing how my body is feeling. I will stretch if I need to and gradually open my eyes after that.
I am not choosy; all the stress management activities I recently tried seem to work well for me. This is true since all three activities depend on each other. One can only relax by connecting to nature or performing meditation directly or indirectly. It is like relaxation depends on meditation, while meditation, on the other hand, depends on nature harnessing the power and benefit nature might provide (Sutton, 2020). However, the best stress reduction activity for me is nature connection. The highest cortisol reduction was found to occur after investing a minimum of twenty to thirty minutes in a natural environment. After that, the benefits of stress reduction increased more gradually. The moment of the day and specific environments had little impact on stress concentrations. Therefore whenever I needed to unwind or concentrate on my mental health, I looked for a natural place to relax and get a moment in. Varying the environment can help inspire creativity, and the outdoors provides stimulation that I cannot find while glued to a TV. For instance, four days outdoors increased my problem-solving ability by fifty percent.
Conclusion
Stress can be devastating to one’s health, especially the negative stress that drains a person’s mind and physical state. Such stress needs to be managed efficiently. It is better to acknowledge that stress cannot be uprooted entirely since they are part of people and is either the driving force toward success or failure. The only option available is to regulate its control over us using various stress reduction activities suitable for one’s personality. Everyone is different; such diversity requires various measures while selecting stress reduction activities. Meditation, relaxation, and nature activities have proven effective for my stress reduction process. We do not have to let stress control us. We should not let stress stop us from accomplishing whatever we desire. Instead, stress ought to motivate us to accomplish our goals and face obstacles that will help us advance. There must be no justification for avoiding stress or letting it consume you. We might view stress as a natural element that may energy and drive us to face both anticipated and unforeseen obstacles by adopting methods for dealing with and gaining control.
References
Godman, H. (2022, March 1). Top ways to reduce daily stress. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/top-ways-to-reduce-daily-stress
Publishing, H. H. (2019, July 1). A 20-minute nature break relieves stress. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/a-20-minute-nature-break-relieves-stress
Robinson, L. (2019, May 2). HelpGuide.org. HelpGuide.org. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/relaxation-techniques-for-stress-relief.htm
Sutton, J. (2020, June 5). 18 Stress Management Activities and Worksheets to Help Clients Beat Stress. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/stress-management-activities-worksheets/
Stress and Stress Management Strategies
Introduction
Stress is a natural feeling of inability to cope with particular demands and events. According to Lehrer and Woolfolk (2021), stress is the body’s natural mechanism of defense against any danger that may cause harm. In detail, stress causes an increase in specific hormone levels that prepare the body to confront or evade danger, commonly referred to as the fight or flight mechanism. Stress is experienced differently by people because people react differently to stressful situations. For instance, one person may seem less stressed than another, yet they are facing similar stressors. However, these differences may be attributed to past experiences and mental conditions. There are many causes of any form of stress. Nonetheless, the most common causes include too much pressure, significant life changes, worry, incapacitation, and unpleasant experiences such as hate and abuse.
Types of Stress
There are two types of stress, including acute and chronic stress. Acute stress, the most common form of stress, is usually short-term and develops due to pressures linked to recently occurring events or upcoming challenges. For instance, a person may be stressed due to a recent argument with a loved one or a nearing deadline. However, this type of stress eventually reduces or disappears once a person resolves their problems. Moreover, despite challenges that may cause acute stress, there is always a possible intervention. Therefore, acute stressors are new and always have a clear solution (Rohleder, 2019). On the other hand, chronic stress is a form of stress that develops over time and can be very harmful compared to acute stress. According to Rohleder (2019), chronic stress develops when an individual cannot find ways to avoid their stressors and has quit seeking solutions. For instance, a person may develop chronic stress due to ongoing poverty, unhappy marriages, or past traumatic experiences. Bodies of people with chronic stress find it difficult to return to normal levels of stress hormone activity which can lead to adverse effects.
Impacts of Stress
All forms of stress can have dire consequences on someone’s physical and mental health. For instance, research indicates that stress can affect feelings, thoughts, and behavior (Lehrer & Woolfolk, 2021). If stress is left unchecked, it may lead to increased risks of health problems, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Moreover, stress can lead to depression, significantly contributing to suicidal ideations, especially among young adults. For this reason, it is essential to identify one’s stressors and strategies to manage stress to prevent undesirable outcomes linked to stress and depression.
Stress Management Strategies
Stress management includes tools, techniques, and strategies to reduce stress and its associated negative impacts on a person’s mental or physical health. Stress management helps people deal with stress and difficult situations, leading to a more balanced and healthier life. There are numerous strategies to manage stress; however, the common evidence-based strategies include the following:
Identifying Sources of Stress
Stress management is a process whose initial stage is identifying the sources of stress in one’s life. Although it is easy to identify the usual causes of stress, such as changes in jobs and unhappy marriages, it can be challenging to establish the sources of chronic stress. However, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors play a central role in developing an individual’s stress levels (Amanvermez et al., 2020). For this reason, the best approach to identifying the sources of stress is by assessing attitudes, habits, and excuses. Moreover, experts assert that until individuals accept their role in creating or maintaining stress, their stress levels will remain out of control. In addition, individuals can identify their stressors by starting a stress journal where they keep track of their stress episodes and how they deal with them. Besides, keeping such records can be critical in identifying themes and patterns.
Practicing the 4 A’s of stress management
While stress is a response from the nervous system, some stressors occur at predictable times. For instance, employed people have few hours a day to complete extensive work or attend meetings causing inevitable stress. According to Can et al. (2020), an individual can handle predictable stressors by either changing their reaction or the situation. Therefore, people are advised to consider the four A’s (Avoid, alter, adapt, accept) when deciding their options in any given situation. In detail, it is possible to avoid predictable stressors by creating distance between oneself and the stressor factor, such as a co-worker or someone different. Moreover, one can alter stressful situations by communicating clearly and ensuring people understand your expectations. Also, accepting the occurrence of some situations can help ease much stress in case avoiding and altering the situation is not possible. Additionally, adapting or changing one’s expectations or standards of stressful events can promote one’s ability to cope with stress.
Engaging in Physical Activity
High-stress levels often demotivate people causing them to be inactive, yet researchers recommend physical activity as one of the most effective stress relievers. According to (Bischoff et al. (2019), physical activity has numerous health benefits, including increasing the production of endorphins, the brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, causing a reduction in stress levels. Moreover, engaging in physical activities can serve as a distraction from the stressful events occurring in someone’s life. However, researchers also recommend that the choice of physical activity should be an activity that one likes in order to increase the likelihood of sticking with it. Besides, one can add some mindful elements, such as paying attention to physical sensations, to break the cycle of negative thoughts linked to overwhelming stress.
Connecting to Others
Different people handle stressful events differently. However, many people tend to isolate themselves during stressful events. However, it is always calming when someone spends time with another person who makes them feel understood and safe. According to research, physical interactions can trigger a cascade of hormones responsible for counteracting the body’s defensive responses associated with stress (Lehrer & Woolfolk, 2021). Consequently, healthy interactions with accommodating people are viewed as a natural stress reliever that helps fight anxiety and depression. While not all people an individual talks to have the capacity to fix their problems, being good listeners is enough to facilitate the process of opening up to someone. For instance, employees and students can reach out to colleagues and fellow students if they have something troubling them. Consequently, one creates and maintains a network of trusted people, thus improving the resiliency to life stressors. For this reason, it is necessary to regularly connect with family and friends in person as a stress management strategy.
Managing Time Better
One of the significant contributors to everyday stress for employees and students is poor time management. When one is stretched too thin and is running behind, one finds it hard to maintain calm or focus. Consequently, one avoids all other stress management strategies, including socializing, thus elevating one’s stress levels. Therefore, it is necessary to have time management skills in order to reduce work or school-related stress (Kassymova et al., 2018). For instance, one of the best time management skills is to avoid over-committing oneself. In detail, scheduling things back-to-back or fitting many activities into a single day is unhealthy. Moreover, it is essential to prioritize tasks and break projects into smaller doable tasks within a specific time frame. Besides, delegating responsibility at home, school or work is an effective strategy to prevent overwhelming stress.
Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle
Stress and lifestyle are highly correlated. According to research, a healthy lifestyle can help manage stress or increase one’s ability to cope with stress (Bremner et al., 2020). In detail, people are advised to eat healthy foods because nourished bodies have better energy and clear minds to cope with stress. At the same time, people should reduce their caffeine and sugar intake and avoid alcohol and drug intake. In other words, taking drugs and alcohol may temporarily escape stress. However, masking or avoiding dealing with the issue at hand only worsens stress later. Therefore, it is best to deal with situations with a clear mind that exacerbates stress impacts by consuming drugs and alcohol. In addition, getting enough sleep is a component of a healthy lifestyle that reduces stress levels and fuels the body and mind.
Conclusion
In conclusion, stress is inevitable in a human being’s daily life. Moreover, there are numerous sources of stress in various settings, including school, work, and home. However, everyone can address their stressful events through stress management. In detail, many stress management techniques efficiently prevent or reduce stress levels. For this reason, people should practice stress management, whose first primary step is identifying the stressor factors to manage stress effectively. Subsequently, strategies including engaging in exercises, better time management, healthy lifestyles, and connecting with other people can be practiced to manage stress. Moreover, avoiding, altering, adapting, or accepting stressful situations can effectively facilitate the process of stress management. Consequently, effective stress management helps prevent long-term adverse outcomes, including increased risk for high blood pressure, depression, and heart disease. Although stress is inevitable in a human being’s daily life, it is only harmful to physical and mental health if left unchecked.
References
Amanvermez, Y., Rahmadiana, M., Karyotaki, E., Wit, L., Ebert, D. D., Kessler, R. C., & Cuijpers, P. (2020). Stress management interventions for college students: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpsp.12342
Bischoff, L. L., Otto, A.-K., Hold, C., & Wollesen, B. (2019). The effect of physical activity interventions on occupational stress for health personnel: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 97, 94–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.06.002
Bremner, J. D., Moazzami, K., Wittbrodt, M. T., Nye, J. A., Lima, B. B., Gillespie, C. F., Rapaport, M. H., Pearce, B. D., Shah, A. J., & Vaccarino, V. (2020). Diet, Stress and Mental Health. Nutrients, 12(8), 2428. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082428
Can, Y. S., Iles-Smith, H., Chalabianloo, N., Ekiz, D., Fernández-Álvarez, J., Repetto, C., Riva, G., & Ersoy, C. (2020). How To Relax in Stressful Situations: A Smart Stress Reduction System. Healthcare, 8(2), 100. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8020100
Kassymova, K., Kosherbayeva, N., Sangilbayev, S., & Schachl, H. (2018). Stress management techniques for students. Proceedings of the International Conference on the Theory and Practice of Personality Formation in Modern Society (ICTPPFMS 2018), 198. https://doi.org/10.2991/ictppfms-18.2018.10
Lehrer, P. M., & Woolfolk, R. L. (2021). Principles and Practice of Stress Management, Fourth Edition. In Google Books. Guilford Publications. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ibb2DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=stress+management&ots=8tR_xPqQSL&sig=vwTRoMxaLPyWtjOEr-DAD9DyWJs
Rohleder, N. (2019). Stress and inflammation – The need to address the gap in the transition between acute and chronic stress effects. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.02.021
Stress and Anxiety in a School Setting
Introduction
Child health in school depends on the experiences they undergo in their day-to-day life that may cause anxiety and stress, effects that would affect their psychological well-being, cause trauma, and influence a child’s overall performance in school. It is, therefore, essential to create a structure that improves student mental health and prevents any possible psychological harm that is likely to affect the child in adulthood. Anxiety in a school setting is a sense of fear and stress that occurs when students undergo traumatic experiences that may increase and threaten their overall well-being (Anniko et al., 2019). Children may repeatedly undergo practical stress because of examinations, shooting in a school, or other events that prevent the individual’s ability to concentrate and act appropriately toward academic success.
Understanding Stress in a School Setting
Stress in school can result from emotional trauma because events and occurrences can create positive or negative impacts on children when they lack the necessary counteractive actions to manage stress in the school environment. Positive stress can occur because of anxiety about interacting with new friends and changing the environment to a new school. Negative stress occurs when students have to manage dreadful school events like fires and accidents and stressful events like examinations (Abrams, 2022). Children can experience anxiety in school because of the fear that they need to attain perfection in their work. They would also remain stressed after managing the urge to cope with a new environment away from their family because of separation from parents and close friends. The child may feel it challenging to concentrate in class or perform poorly because of concentration issues.
Children are likely to undergo anxiety and stress that may affect their comfort and mental well-being. The effects of stress and anxiety may multiply if the school administration lacks the necessary stress management infrastructure needed to help students overcome stressful instances and anxiety. Some of these stressful instances are related to anxiety, as students struggle with social anxiety, selective mutism, generalized anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (Anniko et al., 2019). Multiple phobias also occur because of things like animals, heights, or other things in school that, when not identified, would cause traumatic psychological effects. These stressful occurrences can affect individual mental health and their ability to concentrate, focus, succeed, and perform appropriately in school.
The different types of anxiety that affect student performance because of poor mental well-being, improper concentration, and inappropriate focus involve worries that make the children uncomfortable in school. Some children can feel uncomfortable and worried when separating from their caregivers and therefore have difficulty learning in school depending on their level of attachment with the people they separate with as they leave for school ((Paulson, 2021)). Other children are pretty self-conscious and therefore lack the confidence to socialize freely in school with class and socialize with friends. Selective mutism frees children from various people and remains highly reserved in other people’s companies (Anniko et al., 2019). They may fear talking in the teacher’s presence but be highly talkative with particular friends. In the presence of dreadful social impacts that may result in obsessive-compulsive disorder, the students require appropriate stress management processes that improve social wellness.
It may be difficult to manage stressful thoughts affecting the kids because of trauma, stress, and anxiety that causes inattention. Inattention and restlessness are revealed when children squirm in their seats because of poor psychological health (Schluger, 2022). Children would not want to go to school when it becomes a fundamental cause of anxiety and discomfort. When children have to use phones in school, they may not concentrate on trying to reach their parents through messages and social media channels. Anxious kids tend to be inquisitive because they want assurances (Torrano et al., 2020). They may ask repetitively to seek reassurance. Children can act compulsively by kicking objects when they face highly traumatizing situations (Anniko et al., 2019). They may fight more frequently or throw objects. Anxious children are likely to break eye contact and avoid connection with their teacher because of their inability to engage effectively in class and socialize freely. Physical manifestations of anxiety can also occur in the form of complaints about stomachaches, headaches, nausea, or vomiting due to improper overall health.
Text anxiety is a common form of stressful behavior affecting children’s well-being. Examination anxiety may be continuous when it persists after exam failure, which occurs because of the fear that persists after the examination. Test anxiety combines physical and emotional responses that cause discomfort and poor focus during examinations (Hoffses, 2018). Examples of physical manifestations of test anxiety include headache, shortness of breath, and excessive sweating that arises as the body responds to stressful situations (Kaczmarek & Trambacz-Oleszak, 2021). The affected person may have an increased rate of heartbeat that would increase body temperature and cause persistent sweating. The result of this anxiety is the occurrence of frequent panic attacks that cause difficulties in breathing. Physical symptoms are a result of body reactions in the brain that translate the fear emotion to hormones and lead to the occurrence of these physical symptoms.
Emotional manifestations of test anxiety include stressful feelings that cause helplessness and disappointments. The mind might respond to this stress by going blank and increasingly unable to recall appropriately during the examination because of racing thoughts. Emotional symptoms of stress might also explain poor performance in class because of failures to concentrate appropriately in class (Paulson, 2021). Emotional impacts are also related to the cognitive influence that involves concentration difficulties, pessimism, and procrastination which may cause irresponsibility and procrastination (Caldwell et al., 2019). Research shows that text anxiety is more common in girls than boys and increases with age before reaching peak levels at mid-adolescence. Poor examination preparation is a crucial reason for test anxiety, fear of failure, and poor results’ adverse consequences. Therefore, emotional stress has a practical impact on the mental capacity to make proper academic decisions.
School shootings are other highly stressful instances in American schools, like the recent mass shooting on May 24, 2022, that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers in a deadly encounter with a gunman. Given the media’s highly effective portrayal of these instances, there is a significant impact on children all over the country who may become anxious about shooting possibilities in schools (Abrams, 2022). The frequency of school shootings is substantial, making children uncomfortable because of potential violence. Anxiety and panic disorders are common, and kids usually internalize these fears, which would multiply their mental health issues over time. Anxiety and PTSD are common in children of all ages but are more effective in younger kids. Teens are more scared because they can make sense of violence (Abrams, 2022). The psychological effects of school shootings are significant and therefore risk students’ mental health because of inflicted fears and dreadful influence because of poor health.
The cognitive impact of social media is alarming because of the increased number of hours spent on mobile phones and other social media technology. Social media has contributed to increased depression because of Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The children spent little time doing other valuable activities like socialization, hobbies, and physical activities that may help in individual cognitive development (Ehmke, 2022). beneficial practices like academic practice and research receive a slighter portion of individual time compared to social media, which may result in feelings of depression, anxiety, and poor body image (Caldwell et al., 2019). Children have little time experimenting and practicing valuable skills because they can remain held on their phones even until late at night. They may suffer immensely from decreased ability to create meaningful relationships and succeed in valuable school activities.
Social media tends to lower individual self-esteem because of increased social media consumption that adversely affects social life. This impact also increases irritability and poor confidence levels. They are likely to visit destructive sites, undergo movement disorders, and remain highly frustrated with people who prevent them from visiting these sites (Ehmke, 2022). Children might not have sufficient information and resilience to manage the effects of cyberbullying, dreadful viral trends, and online predation (Caldwell et al., 2019). They may share unnecessary information because they are unable to make a proper judgment on the information they release to the environment. Children are more likely to suffer depression because of cyberbullying because of access to the uncontrolled release of abusive comments on social media platforms. Racism and gender violence in social media can affect child health and therefore impact their performance in school.
Instances of anxiety can also occur because of mindfulness that arises because of the urge to know the results and outcomes of a given instance. It increases anxiety and worries as children become curious about their new environment after separation from their parents and seek reassurance and proper social protection (Caldwell et al., 2019). It may affect student attention and focus as children may be overwhelmed with other issues that affect their overall well-being. Mindfulness training can help control the impact when children get the necessary education concerning self-efficacy and preparedness and create an easy integration into the dynamic school environment (Dunning et al., 2019). attention and metacognition increase as children gain the ability to meditate about their school environment and create individual solutions concerning the issues that affect their peace and performance in school.
There are practical tools that children can apply to overcome anxiety, like correctly identifying the instances that cause anxiety. Children can also gain from school programs that examine their thoughts, emotions, and experiences and act empathetically to ensure they feel protected. Physical activities are effective in solving anxiety issues. They need to learn how to break down tasks and prepare appropriately for examinations through proper task assessments that promote individual efficiency and performance. Role-plays and recognition of individual accomplishments can multiply children’s success by building confidence and encouraging them to work more towards class efficiency.
References
Abrams, Z. (2022). The stress of mass shootings causes a cascade of collective traumas. Apa.org. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/09/news-mass-shootings-collective-traumas
Anniko, M. K., Boersma, K., & Tillfors, M. (2019). Sources of stress and worry in developing stress-related mental health problems: A longitudinal investigation from early-to mid-adolescence. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 32(2), 155-167.
Caldwell, D. M., Davies, S. R., Hetrick, S. E., Palmer, J. C., Caro, P., López-López, J. A., … & Welton, N. J. (2019). School-based interventions to prevent anxiety and depression in children and young people: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(12), 1011-1020.
Dunning, D. L., Griffiths, K., Kuyken, W., Crane, C., Foulkes, L., Parker, J., & Dalgleish, T. (2019). Research Review: The effects of mindfulness‐based interventions on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents–a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 60(3), 244–258.
Ehmke, R. (2022). How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers. Child Mind Institute. https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/#:~:text=This%20can%20cause%20callousness%20in
Hoffses, K. (2018). Test Anxiety (for Kids) – KidsHealth. Kidshealth.org. https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/test-anxiety.html
Kaczmarek, M., & Trambacz-Oleszak, S. (2021). School-related stressors and the intensity of perceived stress experienced by adolescents in Poland. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(22), 11791.
Paulson, D. (2021, August 31). Helping children manage anxiety. Mayo Clinic Health System. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/9-tools-for-helping-your-child-manage-anxiety
Schluger, A. .E. (2022, October 13). Anxiety in Children and Teens – HelpGuide.org. Https://Www.helpguide.org. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/anxiety-in-children-and-teens.html
Torrano, R., Ortigosa, J. M., Riquelme, A., Méndez, F. J., & López-Pina, J. A. (2020). Test anxiety in adolescent students: different responses according to the components of anxiety as a function of sociodemographic and academic variables. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 612270.