The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Stress among students causes concern

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Stress among students causes concern

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JUNE 9. Intense competition, the need to excel, peer pressure, and the desire to make money are making young students in Bangalore neglect a healthy lifestyle.

This has become a cause for concern among parents and also professionals who offer counselling to students. "The young tend to get too competitive, develop a negative attitude, and have a feeling of inferiority which is the root cause for stress among them," according to A. Malathi, Director (Administration), Manipal Hospital.

The youth say the reasons for stress are examinations, teenage love relationships, peer pressure, demands of parents, and living up to society's expectations. "I like to work because I want to be independent. I don't have to depend on anyone for money. I do study alongside but I don't find it that stressful," says Rakesh (22), a student.

Students go through different levels of stress varying with the demands of their course. Kunal Mehra (20), a BHM student of Christ College, says: "the course is very stressful. I barely have time during the week to do anything else. I have to keep all my work for the weekend."

Dr. Malathi feels that the youth in the 16 to 22 age group go through intense stress, which she calls "stress spikes," because it is at this time that they have to make some important decisions in their lives.

Students doing professional courses, such as medicine and engineering, undergo more stress than students pursuing other courses. "We became concerned about bright students when they started doing badly in their examinations. On analysing the situation, we realised that the main cause was the stress they go through. We then decided that ways must be adopted to help them overcome stress. A detailed study helped us conclude that there were six basic reasons that led to stress in the youth and they included doing things at great speed and wanting to achieve maximum goals in a short span of time, bad healthcare and eating habits, negativity, and focus on failure, holding onto the past, uncertainty of the future, and judging others by their own standards.'' Many young students turn to smoking, alcohol, excessive intake of coffee, drugs, and bad eating habits. These only give momentary relief, but prove harmful in the long run.

"There is no way to avoid stress. We can only help them cope with it. We do not give medication except in cases where the stress has led to a physical disorder. We encourage the youth to turn to simple and instant relaxation techniques of yoga, slow and calm breathing, exercising, contact with nature, venting out their problem, meditation, imagery of good occasions, visiting a religious centre, and good health habits," say experts who specialise in psychological counselling for the young.

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