Back To School: Why You're Feeling Overwhelmed, and How to Prevent This
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Picture this: it's the first week of school. The last few weeks were full of easy, relaxing days – or, if not, eventful days spent talking and laughing with some of your best friends. After all the time you spent relaxing over the summer, you almost felt ready to get back into things. But it doesn't last long.
By the second day, the endless feeling of summer has faded. It feels like schoolwork has already filled every spare minute of your time, and you're exhausted by the middle of the week. You don't know how you went from feeling calm and in control of your life to being overwhelmed so fast, but back-to-school anxiety feels as though it's taken over your life.
If this story feels familiar, you're not alone. You may even have discussed this with your friends, family, or classroom table group. But what drives this sudden feeling of being overwhelmed, and how can you combat it?
The Origin of Stress
The concept of stress was first investigated in-depth by Hans Selye, who came to the idea through experiments using rats. In his studies, which are now considered unethical, he subjected groups of rats to several different types of torture, including icy temperatures and starvation.
In these studies, he looked at how the different tests affected the rats' organs; he hypothesized that each unique environment would result in its own pattern of symptoms. To his surprise, while each rat did experience adverse effects on their organs, each form of torture had nearly the same effect across the specimens. From this, he concluded that the mental state of the rats – rather than the type of torture – led to the effects on their organs.
At the time that Selye was going through his experiments, tobacco companies were searching for a way to circumvent research that showed smoking caused cancer and heart disease. The idea of stress was a promising alternative – it meant that tobacco companies could blame diseases caused by their products on stress. Cigarette manufacturers began to put large amounts of money into Selye’s research. The financial backing of tobacco companies massively impacted the number of people that Selye could reach through his research, which decidedly affected the amount of change he was able to create through his work.
After concluding that stress was real – and could be incredibly harmful – Selye became determined to tell the world about it. He would go on to write 1,500 books and papers on the subject by the end of his career and taught his concept of stress through exceedingly successful lecture tours in the Americas and Europe. His resolve to share his ideas ultimately led to stress becoming a common idea today. But how does it work?
The Science of Stress
The neurochemical concept of stress isn't very complicated. In essence, when you experience a stressful situation, your brain releases chemicals that stimulate certain parts of your mind and body. This can have physical effects, such as quickening your heartbeat and making you feel uncomfortable or uneasy. Then, once you're out of the “dangerous” situation, your parasympathetic nervous system calms the parts of you that were activated by the stress.
At its core, stress is caused by "Any physical or psychological stimuli that disrupt homeostasis…" (National Library of Medicine). When you go back to school, the homeostasis you've found over the summer – which can include things like your sleep routine and daily schedule – is disrupted. This then leads to stress, which results in back-to-school anxiety. Though this reaction can be temporary, it becomes dangerous in the long term. For instance, those who experience higher levels of stress over a long time have been found to have a much higher risk of heart disease than the general population. Additionally, stress has been linked to high blood pressure, which can increase your likelihood of heart attacks and strokes. These effects might seem distant, but it's important to consider them so that you can work to prevent them early. Also, though some effects of stress occur later in life, others happen relatively quickly – such as difficulty falling asleep and higher levels of emotional dysregulation.
Of course, these things can be avoided if you work to keep your back-to-school anxiety to a minimum. But what are some of the ways to go about that?
Dealing With Stress
1. Making Time for Yourself
You've heard it before, but taking time for yourself (both on the weekends and during the week) is incredibly beneficial. This can look like many things, including making time to spend with friends and reading a book that you enjoy. For instance, you could start a recurring event with your friends in which you go to a nearby coffee or boba shop to spend time with one another. Though this might seem like it would take too much time to be worth it, making time for yourself can help reduce your stress and make you feel more compassionate toward yourself.
2. Spend Some Time Outside
Pausing your homework to go for a run, a bike ride, or even just to walk around outside the place you're working can be a great way to keep yourself from feeling overwhelmed. This is because taking some time to look at the natural world reduces your stress levels, allowing you to take a break from the sensory overwhelm of your work environment. It has also been shown that those who spend more time outside can concentrate more effectively on their work than those who don't.
3. Create a Daily Schedule
Creating a schedule is an excellent way to feel more in control of back-to-school anxiety. It becomes especially beneficial when you use your schedule to create reasonable goals for yourself and stick to them. Often, it will feel as though everyone around you is working to be the best at everything they do, but vague, unattainable goals like “being the best” don't help you. Making goals that are precise and attainable will aid you in feeling as though you're moving forward – and they keep you from procrastinating, which is essential in the first few weeks of school.
Reaching Out for Support
If you always feel overwhelmed going back to school or if your stress around the start of the year feels too difficult to overcome, it may be helpful to speak to a therapist. Therapists have the experience and abilities to teach you how to manage your life in a way that's healthy and sustainable.
Though reaching out may seem difficult or unnecessary it can improve your life in numerous ways. With 15-minute free consultations, you can always try the process out and evaluate how you feel about it. Therapists often have insights into what you're experiencing and can use these insights to help you find new perspectives. Through Trust Mental Health, you can quickly connect with therapists from many different backgrounds who would be happy to help you find a healthy school-life balance. Whether you're looking for anxiety therapy in California or individual therapy in California, Trust Mental Health has therapists to fit your background and struggles.
Key Points:
Hans Selye first discovered the concept of stress – because of his influence, the idea of stress has become extremely well-known in the Western world.
Stress is caused by anything that disrupts your homeostasis, and can lead to both short- and long-term harm.
Making time for yourself, spending time outside, and crafting a daily schedule can be incredibly beneficial in helping you feel more in control of your life.
FAQs
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If you enjoy writing, try journaling, as that can be a great way to get stress off of your shoulders – it allows you to look at your feelings from an outside perspective, which can help you see them in a different light. Additionally, listening to or playing music is a great way to give your brain a break from thinking about school.
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See what time you can make – though it might not seem like a lot, it will do more than you think to make you feel less stressed out. Also, if you truly don't have enough time to take care of yourself, it might be time to consider seeing what you can drop from your schedule; doing too much early in the year is a potential path to burnout.
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Research is a great way to find a therapist with experience for your particular struggles. A quick search can help you find therapists for your issues (for instance, searching 'therapists teen anxiety [where you live]'), but those results can often be vague and unhelpful. Alternatively, it can be worthwhile to find an online therapy service you trust – for instance, Trust Mental Health offers rapid service (within 48 hours) and a group of therapists from a huge array of backgrounds.