Miranda Ramnares<\/p>\n
\n
Burnt out, overwhelmed, stressed, and depressed. These words
\nmay not be the first that come to mind when you describe the typical high
\nschool student. However they are quickly becoming the norm. At North Toronto,
\nstress is a regular occurrence. We constantly feel the overwhelming pressure of
\nour busy school, social and extra curricular lives. But how bad is stress for
\nus? How negative is the effect on students?<\/p>\n
Graffiti has conducted a survey to find out how students are feeling, leading up to exams. Surveys were handed out to the two classes in each grade with the most students. This survey was in no way intended to diagnose depression, generalized anxiety disorder or any other mental illness; it was merely meant to gauge the general feeling among students. In total, 250 surveys were given out. 205 responses were
\nreceived, 110 from girls, 95 from boys. Every survey was completely anonymous,
\nand all students were told that the results might be published.<\/p>\n
As previously stated, stress is a regular part of the lives of NT students. Students are expected to be stressed out to the point that appearing relaxed or in control of your work is shocking to others. We have developed a \u2018stress culture\u2019 \u2013 we simply accept that a high level of stress is normal and manageable; we assume that we are all alike, both in the amount of pressure we receive and the way we manage it. However, this
\nnotion is completely false. Different people perceive stress differently; for
\nsome it can be seriously detrimental, while for some it can be very
\nmotivational. Stress is a natural part of life, and can be very good, in
\nmoderation. Like all emotions, we feel it out of necessity for survival. As we
\nevolved, stress became less about warning us we were in danger and more about
\nwarning us that we were going to miss our deadlines. However, it is when we
\nallow stress to rule our life is when we get into trouble.<\/p>\n
This survey was intended to find out how deep in trouble we really were. The results were expected to indicate that students were experiencing moderate levels of stress and anxiety due to summative and approaching exams. However, the results were a lot more negative than expected. For instance, 60% of students admitted that they felt
\n\u2018overwhelmed\u2019 in the past month, 73% said they felt exhausted, and only 34% of students said that they felt optimistic and energized. However the most shocking result
\nis that 18 percent of students surveyed admitted that they had thought about
\nsuicide or self-harm and 7 percent revealed that they had actually self-harmed.<\/p>\n
People self harm for a many different reasons, some feel like their lives are out of control, and through the pain, they are able to gain some sort of foothold. Others feel as if they have to \u2018punish\u2019 themselves out of shame or guilt. Self-harm is often a side
\neffect of depression, or generalized anxiety disorder. While both disorders can
\nbe stress related, they are often confused with one another. Depression is a
\nmental illness, characterized by causing a persistent feeling of sadness, and
\nlack of interest. On the other hand, generalized anxiety disorder is described
\nas being in a state of constant worry over things that are out of control.\u00a0 Both disorders affect us socially, and academically. they caused by many different reasons, however they are commonly related to over or unhealthy levels of stress.<\/p>\n
After a lot of thought, I realized that the results of the survey were not that surprising after all. We live in a society based on constant and bottomless interaction with ever person around us. These are the days of the 24\/7 news cycle, the rapid 140-character
\npunch of a tweet, Facebook statuses tossed out minute by minute. Our lives have
\nbecome sprints, we not only face competition for university from our friends, and
\nwe are up against people all over the globe. The economy isn\u2019t perfect, the job
\nmarket is harsh and cruel, and the list goes on and on and on. In this
\nsituation, stress is understandable, but should it be acceptable? Like
\neverything in life, it must be handled in moderation. It can be a powerful tool
\nto motivate, or it can be a destructive force to burn you out. As the great
\nFerris Bueller famously said \u201clife moves fast, if you don\u2019t stop and look
\naround once in a while, you might miss it\u201d, in our stress saturated lives, no
\nwords could be truer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Miranda Ramnares Burnt out, overwhelmed, stressed, and depressed. These words may not be the first that come to mind when you describe the typical high school student. However they are quickly becoming the norm. At North Toronto, stress is a … Continue reading