A R TS & C U LTU R E
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W h at is your main
stressor?
Counseling
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STORY AND PHOTOS BY WILLIAM FARRIS
DESIGN EDITOR
Chances are if y o u ’ re reading
this, you’ re stressed out. Beingca
student means taking on a lot of
responsibility and extra work in a
life that more than likely already
has quite a lot to deal with.
From family, to work, to any other
anxiety inducing incidents that can
spring up unexpectedly in this crazy
thing called life , i t ’ s no wonder
people today have more problems
finding the time and the energy to
take care of themselves.
But as many health care providers
w ill tell you, taking care of yourself
is an im portant part of life that
doesn’ t have to be difficult to fit
into a hectic schedule. So hopefully
this sXpry can give some tips to
all those out there who have too
much on their plate and need help
balancing it all.
The first and most obvious piece
of advice is that if you’ re feeling
stressed out you should go talk to
a counselor or health care provider.
Getting hqlp from a professional
is the best thing anyone can do to
help work through life , and just
being able to talk to a third party is
a great way to help sort things out.
The college even o ffers free
sessions with eounselors on campus
in the community center for any
current students who just need
to talk or get some resources for
whatever is going on in their life.
Though there may be a stigma
that sometimes surrounds seeing
a counselor for m ental h ealth
problems, it’ s truly not an abnormal
thing. Seeing and talking to mental
health professionals is something
th a tKs suggested for everyone to
help with day to day stress and it
doesn’ t mean something’ s-wrong.
After all, people go to a doctor
for check ups to make sure their
b o d ies’ h ealth is norm al, why
Clackamas Print
should your mental health be any
different?
As CCC counselor Tamara Randall
said “ There’ s still a lot of stigma
about mental health, and I really
want students to know that if
they access our services that their
identity and content of counseling
is confidential.”
Besides talking to a mental health
provider, one of the biggest things
that can help you deal With stress is
simply getting more sleep. As cliche
as the advice is, scheduling enough
time to get a fu ll eight hours of
sleep iS one of the best things you
can do both for your health and to
help recuperate from anxiety.
Of course it’ s not always so easy
to keep a sleep schedule with work
and studying; but scheduling your
time around getting enough sleep
and avoiding staying up late to cram
can be a good way tq help your body.
Making a schedule to help keep
yourself organized can also be a
good way of reducing anxiety. “ The
more organized the more you’ re
able to manage your course load,
your workload; all of that stu ff
that’s going to lessen the anxiety,” ,
said counselor Lupe Martinez.
But overall the most basic things
you can do to get started of tackling
anxiety are the more predictable
th in gs w e’ve all heard before,
things like eating well and taking
breaks to prevent burn out and give
ourselves time to relax help our
systems stay healthy.
And those th in g s can sound
d ifficu lt to plan around and fit
into a busy schedule, or just plain
old boring to do. But as counselor
Esther Sexton said, “ Those are
the things that are really boring,
but they’ re kind of cliche because
they’ re tru e.”
They’re necessary starting places
for taking good care of yourself,
and they don’ t have to be hard to
^implement into your life. A good
way to get started is by trying
to make a schedule for yourself
so you can get your school work
done in an organized manner.
You don’ t even need to write it
down, try just setting a time or
times in the day when you want
to work on your assignments and
do your best to stick to them ;
have some b u ilt in breaks and
free time for yourself so you
can relax and make consistent
progress without cramming or
trying to rush through the work
a lla t once.
Another good trick to use is
setting some time aside someday
during the week to cook a meal
and do it with others. Invite some
friends over for a study session
and make some spaghetti for all
of you, or sit and make something
nice for you and your Significant
other.
You can even use it as a great
opportunity to spend time doing
something fun with the family or
kids and get some face time while
making a nice meal. Whatever
you make, and whoever you make
it with, just make sure to make
plenty of extra that can be your
lunch sometime that vreek. Or a
quick reheatable meal when you
don’ t have the time'to cook and
want to avoid fast food.
But more than anything, make
sure to set some time aside for
yourself as often as you can.
Maybe even find a hobby you
can do to relax between literally
every other crazy part of your
schedule. Because as hard as it
can be to do, the only way you
can take care of yourself is if you
take the time to do it.
theclackam asprint.com
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Novem ber 14, 2018