Stress Management Case Study Report

The stress management case study involves college student, Katya who has an upcoming chemistry exam, she normally tries her best to study as much as possible because she experiences anxiety before taking tests. Her lack of confidence causes Katya to believe that no matter how hard she studies it will not make a difference in her tests. Katya knows she has to do well in her upcoming exam or she may lose her scholarship. While studying for her chemistry exam her anxiety took the best of her therefore, she had a panic attack.

The exam is days away and she feels nowhere ready, so she needs help.

As a college student who suffers from severe anxiety due to the stress of academics, I can relate to Katya’s situation. The stress of having a job, family and a social life, contributes a lot to my performance in school. The stress of my personal life adds on to the stress of school, especially if I am taking courses that are exceptionally challenging and require a lot of time and effort. College is nothing like high school, there are more responsibilities and higher expectations from professors and parents for students to perform at a high level. If students do not perform at the levels that is required of them they suffer from stress, anxiety and depression. Therefore, it becomes overwhelming and difficult to maintain a calm mental state before an exam. Katya feels frustrated by the pressures of school and believes that if she does not do well on her Chemistry exam everything she has worked for to keep her GPA and scholarship will get taken away. She has allowed her stress to get the best of her and needs to make changes in her life as soon as possible.

I recommend that Katya begins making changes by learning to take charge of her negative emotions that are caused by major stressors before they arise. There will be plenty of exams and challenges that she will need to overcome throughout college. She needs to replace all her negative thoughts with positive self-talk, worrying and feeling anxious is normal and she is not the only student who feels this way before a test. Sometimes certain feelings are unavoidable. However, overthinking a situation or filling her mind with negative thoughts about failing can lead to negative effects such as another panic attack. Setting a routine before every test will help her feel better about future exams. A helpful method is to set a weekly schedule and set a time of day every day for assignments and studying.

This will allow her to respect that time and be able to not procrastinate and study in a timely manner before upcoming exams. If Katya is having a difficult time in a particular area, she should make an effort to seek tutoring as soon as possible, rather than seeking help two days before a test. Maintaining a routine, along with asking for help before school becomes overwhelming will make a big difference and she will gain the confidence she needs in school. In addition, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “it is important to take time to self-care, while under stress” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2018). Stressing about academics is normal, however it is important to take time off from school and life to clear the mind and try meditation. Meditating is an excellent way to clear the mind from everything and focus on being 100% calm within our bodies, it helps reduce stress as well as negative emotions. Katya would greatly benefit from meditating before study sessions and tests to help with her anxiety.

In conclusion, it is wise that Katya learns to set realistic expectations for herself and not allow the expectations of anyone else stress her out, to the point it steals her confidence. Nowadays, so much is expected out of college students, especially from parents and that makes many students feel like there is no room for failure. Katya is in constant fear of failure which leads to panic attacks before her tests. She needs to remind herself to be positive and that stressing out will not make her situation any better. Instead, she needs to be more confident and tell herself that she will continue to do her best and try her best and it is okay to fail, nobody is perfect.

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