Stress Resources | Ebooks on Stress Symptoms and Dealing with Stress

Stress Lesson Plans

Exam Stress

This lesson plan provides information and advice on dealing with exam stress.

Age range: 12
Category: Schools
Published: 2022
Pages: 17

Living in a busy, fast-paced world can, at times, be very stressful. As people try to cram so much into their daily lives, stress is becoming more common. The cost of living crisis is also causing many people to become worried and stressed as they struggle to make ends meet.

Too much stress, and prolonged stress, can cause health problems and needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. We hope our resources provide support for people suffering from stress.

What is Stress?

Stress is part of the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response to real or imagined threats and is a way of dealing with an emergency. We can therefore say that stress is a defence mechanism that kicks into gear in response to a threat.

Both the mind and body can show signs of stress and this stress response is actually a healthy way of protecting the body to give it an extra boost of adrenalin. It also helps concentration and ensures a person can rise to a challenge.

Stress Symptoms

There are a number of signs that indicate someone is dealing with high stress levels — from physical to mental symptoms of stress. Although these symptoms vary among people, too much stress can cause:

Depression
Anxiety
Inability to concentrate
Lack of sleep
Mood swings
Headaches
Chronic stress

Chronic stress is where an individual is constantly on edge. They find it difficult to relax and are permanently in a state of heightened alertness. This is not a healthy way to be and untreated chronic stress can lead to:

High blood pressure
Heart disease
Gastrointestinal disorders (IBS, ulcers etc)
Skin disorders
Weak immune system
Generalised anxiety disorder

Dealing with Stress

It is vital that steps are taken to relieve high levels of stress and anxiety. Some of the following stress-management strategies can help:

Regular exercise
Breathing exercises
Support groups
A healthy diet with valuable nutrition
Various therapeutic activities

If symptoms of stress persist, it is necessary to seek medical help.