Preparing for the ACT and doing the ACT is a stressful time for Juniors as it could make or break the path they want to take. No matter what grade you are in, whether you’re taking the ACT or not, it is important to also take care of yourself and your mental health. One in five highs choolers suffer from mental health disorders such as anxiety, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, and more. Asking for support if needed and taking the time to acknowledge these behaviors can help lift a baggage off your shoulder.
Mr. Bonson, the school psychologist (located in the admin area by the staff mailboxes), indicates that there are many different types of stress. One type of stress is short-term stress: stressing over a test that day or stress about not knowing how to get to a place that day. Short-term stress usually does not last very long unlike, long-term stress. Long-term stress can cause a person to carry that stress for long periods of time sometimes for teenagers even into adulthood which could cause major problems. Long-term stress can include work pressure, health problems, high expectations from others or yourself, the environment one lives in. There are many different things that many different people could think are long-term stress or short-term stress. According to the National Library of Medicine, short-term stress should be a couple of hours, maybe three days or more. It should never be months or years, if so those are long-term stress. Stress on your body can impact your body heavily too. Stress for too long can cause your blood pressure to go up, sometimes skin problems, forgetting certain things, and headaches (UF health). Stress could also cause your academic performances to weaken, which is why it is so important on test days.
No matter if it is long-term or short-term stress, you should always have ways to balance stress with coping mechanisms. Keep in mind that we are all different people with different needs and different strategies. For some acknowledging the problem and talking about it to let it out. For others music, art, or even just sleeping helps. As long as you take your mind away from it for a bit, it is okay. Another take from Mental Health Foundation can sometimes be helpful; they list some reasons like speaking in front of a big crowd. Usually though after the stressful event your stress hormones should return the same, sometimes though some events leave us with permanent stress. Even so having a good way to get ride of those stress can really help here are 10 Stress busters that could help.
