This time of year is a perfect pressure cooker for stress. In addition to everyday responsibilities, Smithies are also dealing with the academic term coming to a close, holidays on the horizon and the limbo everyone is stuck in between the presidential election and the inauguration. In short, it’s an overwhelming time of year. But Smithies don’t need to figure out how to deal with it all on their own — there’s an End of Semester Survival Guide published on the Smith College website that offers strategies, resources and activities to get through the end of the semester. Here are some other tips to check out:
Finals
Finals season at colleges all across the United States are infamous for bringing excess stress to students. According to research done by Imed Bouchrika, PhD, “Finals and midterms accounted for the top source of stress for 31% of U.S. [college] students.” It’s safe to say Smithies also feel this burden of stress.
In terms of getting through the stress of finals, no matter how packed your schedule might be, it is important to prioritize eating and sleeping enough. It’s not unusual to see Smithies in the library from opening to close, staying up all night working in the common areas or working as they eat their lunch during finals, but the reality is that pushing your physical and mental health to the back burner is counterproductive to succeeding during finals.
Studies have shown that the amount of sleep we get and food we eat — especially during stressful or overwhelming times — directly correlates to our productivity and success. Though powering through your to-do list may seem like the most efficient option, neglecting these integral parts of self-care will actually make it more difficult for you to succeed. A lack of concentration or inability to concentrate has been associated with a deficit in sleep, and those that get a recommended amount of sleep have been found to succeed more academically. Similarly, not eating enough nutrients has been linked to diminished mental health and cognitive skills like concentration and memory.
Holidays
As people grow up, holidays tend to lose the shine of childhood excitement and become more of a responsibility one has to undertake. Data suggests that December is the most physically stressful month of the year, and mental health is similarly exacerbated.
Art Health Solutions found in their study on “Festive Fatigue” that “a huge 51% of women and 35% of men find the season stressful,” and “The most common reasons given are loneliness exacerbated by the expectation of company and togetherness at Christmas (83%), [and] increased stress focused on such a short space of time (81%).”
The holiday season isn’t necessarily all presents and shiny lights; it can also be loneliness, overwhelm and sadness. For that reason, this makes getting through the holiday season much easier when you take time to spend it how you want to. Whether that means getting some time alone, going out with friends or simply doing an activity that brings you joy, carving out time in your likely busy schedule that holidays entail will bring you a bit of joy and enable you to better accept the moments when you have responsibilities or commitments to attend to. Regardless of if it’s twenty minutes where you sneak away to the bathroom to scroll on TikTok or an entire day where you prioritize spending time how you want, giving yourself that contrast from the holiday responsibilities you can’t get out of will give yourself a necessary break.
Election
From the election on Nov. 5 to Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, Americans are stuck in “election limbo,” with Biden’s term coming to a close and Trump’s second on the horizon. During this election limbo, holidays are infamous for being a battleground between family members with differing political views which can lead to stress, anger or even violence. Shannon Garcia, a psychotherapist at States of Wellness Counseling in Illinois and Wisconsin, believes that people often find themselves stressed or overwhelmed post-election due to the uncertainty of what could happen with a transition into a new presidency.
For these reasons, it is extremely important to set boundaries — both for your interactions with others and for yourself, as they are important for maintaining your mental health during this time.
Deciding for yourself and planning ahead of time how you want to deal with family members with differing political views or difficult conversations surrounding politics — and where your boundaries lie in regards to them — will save you both time and pain. This could look like setting the boundary that you will not tolerate being spoken to disrespectfully during political conversations, no matter how heated or personal the conversation gets, or something more specific to your circumstances. Setting the boundary of limiting time that you engage with election-based media can similarly help you maintain your mental health.
As we transition into the winter break and Interterm, it is important for Smithies to make sure to take care of themselves during this stressful and overwhelming time. For more resources, visit the Schacht Center or call the center at 413-585-2800 or receive 24/7 telehealth care through the My SSP app.
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