Dalia Avalos

4-28-16
Health 44
Project #3: Case Study
The topic of the case study used for this project consists of a college
student named Kayta who suffers from severe anxiety prior to taking exams.
She is about to take a chemistry exam but this is not any regular, chemistry
exam. She must do well on this exam or else she will lose her scholarship
that she worked hard for. As a college student, I understand her anxiety and
her frustration. Losing a scholarship is a big deal because she probably
needs the money to keep going with her educational goals. That right there
is very stressful and even nerve wracking. However, she needs to stop and
think about her health. With all the stress and anxiety from school, she is
suffering from panic attacks which are detrimental to her health. It is true
that school is very important because that it how a lot of us are going to
advance and succeed in life. Personally, I do not come from a family with
money therefore I have to work hard in school to get somewhere in life.
However, at the same time I stop and think about the effects that stress is
doing to my health which can have negative effects in the long run.
From personal experience, I can say that I have felt an immense
amount of stress and anxiety in my three years of college. Research papers,
meeting deadlines, group projects, presentations, chapters to read, math
homework and nursing pre-requisites have all contributed to the stress I
have gone through in college so far. Personal problems were also a big part

of my stress. Just last year I had a lot on my plate with personal problems,
so I had to take preventable measures to reduce my stress a little bit. For
example, my younger sister was hospitalized at UCLA for three months last
year during the spring semester of 2015. At the time, I had registered to take
a chemistry class during that semester before my sister got sick and was
admitted to the hospital. I ended up dropping the class after the first two
weeks of the semester. There was no way I was going to pass that class
because I was physically there in class but I wasnt there mentally. My mind
was somewhere else. Chemistry is rigorous and consisted of constant
concentration and dedication which was something I couldnt do at the time.
Also, on top of all of that I was just starting to speak up about my childhood
sexual abuse and that was painful and really stressful. I realized that I
needed to make the right decisions not only for my education but for my
health as well. Something that I did was to not take more than I can handle
as the time. It was hard dropping that class but I realized now that it was the
best thing I could have done for myself. I experienced physical pain during
that time such as headaches, chest pain and stomach aches. But the
emotional pain was definitely worse. Mental health is something to care
about too.
Some of my recommendations for Kayta are to manage her time
wisely. I know it is hard to say No to family and friends when they invite
you to do something fun, but you have to think about what has to be done
first. Unfortunately, it has to be business over pleasure sometimes. We can

do the fun things first , but we would not be really enjoying ourselves
because we have what we have to do in the back of our minds. This creates
unnecessary stress. According to the article called A Students Guide to
Balancing Stress, students begin to feel physical symptoms such as
increased heart rate, high blood pressure, muscle tension, headaches,
stomach aches, and fatigue when feeling stressed. ( www.bestcolleges.com,
2016). These symptoms can all lead to long term negative effects on your
health. This article also talks about the emotional, behavioral and cognitive
effects that can happen on your body. Some emotional effects are
unhappiness, loneliness and hostility. Studies show that increased stress and
loneliness can tie together and lead to an increased mortality rate.
(www.bestcolleges.com, 2016). Stress can disturb your sleeping cycle
therefore you experience fatigue and tiredness. People who deal with a high
amount of stress in their lives are at a higher risk of substance abuse that
can negatively affect not only yourself but also your relationships with your
family and friends. Negative thoughts and a negative outlook on life can also
be one of stress consequences, but this can be reversed with positive selftalk and encouragement. ( www.bestcolleges.com,2016).
According to the American Physiological Association, constant strain on
the heart due to stress can bring on long term problems such as
hypertension, stroke and heart attack. (American Physiological Association,
2016). This is due to the fast beating and constant strong contractions of the
heart. Katya suffers of panic attacks meaning that her respiratory system has

to work harder to breathe causing hyperventilation.( APA,2016). Some tips to

reduce her tips can be to try relaxation techniques that can range from
meditation, exercising, listening to music, going for a walk with your dog,
distancing yourself from the stressful environment and just taking a second
to breathe. According to the article called Quantifying the Impact of Physical
Activity on Stress Tolerance on College Students, it mentions that exercise
or physical activity is a good way to tolerate stress. It is a good way to keep
stress under control and a good way to lower the risk of depression and
anxiety. The article also states that some college students have a higher
stress tolerance than others thus some taking on more tasks than others.
My last tips for Kayta would be to never procrastinate. Procrastination
will just make you feel behind in all your tasks and will bring on a lot of
stress. Time management is an important characteristic to develop for
college and beyond. Also, she shouldnt be too hard on herself. I am a strong
believer than everything happens for a reason, but this also doesnt mean to
slack off. Everything will fall into place and what is meant to be will be meant
to be. She should take care of both her physical and mental health because
without our health we cannot do what we want to do in life. She should give
it her all in a responsible manner without it hurting her health. She is already
having panic attacks therefore she doesnt want her symptoms to escalade
to more dangerous ones whether it is now or in the long run. I believe that it
is all or nothing but if it does not work out for some reason then there are

better opportunities waiting for you. All you have to do is knock on some
doors and let dont be so hard on yourself.

Work Cited Page

Bland, H., W, Melton, B., F, Bigham, L., E, & Welle, P., D. (2014). Quantifying the
Impact of Physical Activity on Stress Tolerance in College Students. Retrieved April
28, 2016, from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezp.pasadena.edu/ehost/detail/detail?
vid=3&sid=cb07bf95-3f5f-4a39-98ba1c669df3cdb4@sessionmgr4002&hid=4104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==
#A
Stress Effects on the Body. (2016). Retrieved April 28, 2016, from
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-body.aspx

Student Guide to Balancing Stress | BestColleges.com. (2016). Retrieved April 28,

2016, from http://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/balancing-stress/