Corey Seggerty

Semester Stress Project

If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what youre needing is not to be
in a different place but to be a different person.
Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, 65 AD

Seneca, a Roman philosopher who lived over 2000 years ago already expressed one of
the most important coping mechanisms for stress there is. As I learned this semester,
running away from a stressor may sometimes be effective but in all reality is not always
an option. The stress of daily life and of significant life changes is often unavoidable and
as such our reaction to it determines how much these circumstances can cause a
negative reaction. As I discovered utilizing the stress assessment surveys, I already
experience relatively low levels of daily stress, tend to employ healthy mechanisms for
coping with stress and also believe that I have control over most of the stressful factors
in my life. There was still plenty opportunity to attempt to lower my stress level by
employing and trying new strategies.
One cause of stress in my life has always been my inability to fall asleep quickly. I know
that not getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night makes it harder to focus at work, puts
me in a bad mood, and even increases my ongoing back pain the next day. My typical
strategy is to take Melatonin and to read before bed, implementing a certain routine to
help my body wind down at the end of the day. I chose to also add daily aerobic exercise
to my day, one of the strategies our text book suggests for managing overall stress. I
figured the exhaustion from exercising would help with falling asleep and also have
other positive effects. The local gym at our townhome community also was a convenient
location for implementing that method. I started walking/running on the tread mill
three times a week for two weeks. I definitely noticed a positive effect in the sense that
immediately following the exercise, I felt relaxed and positive about my day. I started to
notice that I began to lose some weight and overall felt more energetic. I also do believe
that falling asleep became a little easier on the days I had the chance to exercise several
hours before bed time. On the other hand, on days where I didnt have the chance to
exercise until late, falling asleep actually became harder as my body seemed to still be in

exercise mode when it was time to go to bed. I also noticed that convincing myself that
exercising was a priority became more and more difficult as time went on. Especially on
days were my schedule was already full; fitting in that extra hour of activity (changing,
walking to the gym, the actual work out, and showering afterwards) became more of a
burden than a tool to release stress.
Another issue I needed to cope with during this semester was the sickness of my
grandmother. We found out about six weeks ago that she suffered from terminal cancer
and would most likely pass soon. This put an immense level of emotional stress on the
entire family. This is something I have never experienced before so I needed to develop
entirely new coping mechanisms. Among other things I decided to lean on my social
network more. A shared burden is a lighter burden. Because most family doesnt live
close, my wife and I established cuddle time. A dedicated twenty minutes a day after
coming home from work to just hang out together and talk about our day. We dont
always discuss important issues like what is going on with the family but just sharing the
little annoyances of the day makes it easier to let go of them. I also tried to sit down and
pet my dog and cats more, sometimes telling them about my problems as well. Even
though that sometimes felt a little silly it also made me feel better as well.
The third method I chose to give a try was breaking big tasks up into smaller, more
manageable sub-goals. Doing this with my homework seemed the most natural
application of this method. I am a great procrastinator and throughout the semester,
homework has always exclusively taken place on Sunday afternoon stretching all the
way into the late hours of the night. If the deadline was on a Monday, then that time
after work usually had to be dedicated to finishing up assignments as well. This did not
only trigger stress in the sense that I was required to do homework for hours on end but
also caused some tension between my wife and I as I was consistently not available for
any family activities or chores during that time. To break up the tasks, I sat down at the
beginning of the week and mapped out what needed to be accomplished until the next
Sunday. For my math class in particular, this was very easy as individual homework
assignments are already intended to be done over several days and are broken up in
relatively short lessons. After mapping out this plan for the homework assignments, I
also added other tasks such as household chores or the day the car needed to go in for

repairs. I then tried to keep up with my schedule over the following week, checking off
tasks as I went along.
The results were somewhat mixed. It turned out that particular week, as well as the next
one, was especially busy, making the daily task load still very heavy. It could be said that
had I not made a plan, I would have been completely overwhelmed on that Sunday and
may have not been able to complete my homework at all or that other chores would have
just not been addressed. Still, all of a sudden homework was something that had to be
on my mind daily and especially after an eight hour full work day, taking away from time
that was usually spent unwinding, engaging in hobbies or spending time with my family.
The task list became a bit of a slave driver, always on the back of my mind and a
constant reminder if I fell short of completing my task for that day. On the other hand,
when I was able to check of everything on the list, a certain sense of accomplishment
was gained. Unfortunately, this did not last for very long as I had to start over the next
day.
Overall, the exercises brought somewhat mixed results. Taking advantage of my social
network and interacting more with my pets was a positive experience. I believe I will
continue to consciously make the decision to make time for these interactions every day
to alleviate stress. I believe we may actually dedicate more time every day by
establishing a no technology at dinner rule. It helped immensely to share and reflect
on the small and big challenges of the day.
The physical exercise method as well as the creating small task methods both had the
same shortfalls. They both required dedicated time during the week and added
something to my metaphorical plate. While I can recognize the benefits as described
above, they appear not have been great enough for me to stick to the methods over time.
The scheduling method was probably my least favorite as it required the most work up
front and seemed to be the most intrusive. The figuring out what needed to be done and
when took some time and again, I then had to dedicate free time to activities to check
off my list. I also felt that I was overall less productive in the time actually working on
my tasks as I didnt feel the added pressure of a looming deadline. While I can see that

this might be a great way to be organized and that this method may reduce stress for
other people, it just overall did not work for me and my style of studying.

Even though I did not continue the exercise routine, I was still interested in how
exercise, particularly aerobic exercise helps to reduce stress. While it is a known fact
that exercising improves overall physical well-being, how does it actually affect us
mentally?
Myers (2008) points to multiple studies which found a positive relationship between
aerobic exercise routines and increased mood and mental health. The provided
explanation is that Exercise orders up mood-boosting chemicals from our bodys
internal pharmacy - neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin, and the
endorphins (Myers, 2008). Looking just at this statement, one may assume that
exercising simply releases all these chemicals and the body induces a body-high. If it
was really that simple the positive effects of exercise would be short lived. In review of
other literature on the subject, it appears the matter is much more complex and also not
fully explained at this time.
Anderson & Shivakumar postulate that regular exercise results in physiological changes
and adaptations in the human body which has a long-term effect on how the nervous
system reacts to stressors (2013). In some preclinical studies, it was found that
voluntary exercise altered the releases of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) from the
hypothalamus and ACTH from the anterior pituitary. These exercise induced changes in
the Hyothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis (HPA) seem to modulate stress reactivity and
could also be linked to decreased depressive and anxiety symptoms (Anderson &
Shivakumar 2013). Salmon (2001) argues along the same lines, indicating that exercise
is processed by the brain equivalent to being exposed to a stressor. The same reaction is
induced by exercise, regular exercise engages this mechanism often thus increasing the
brains norepinephrine production and turnover. Because the brain and body is
repeatedly conditioned to the controllable stressor of exercise, the effect of a real-life
stressor is reduced and norepinephrine levels arent as severely depleted. Just like

exercise builds up muscles and makes the body stronger over time, it also appears to
condition the brain to react better to stress.
The other way exercise influences the chemicals in our brain is by stimulating the
endogenous opioid activity in the peripheral and central nervous system (Salmon,
2001). By producing these opioids, the body produces its own dosage of pain-killing
substances. Additionally, endogenous opioids also play a role in the regulation of mood
and emotional responses. Increased endogenous opioid activity as induced by exercise
can even induce a euphoric state (Anderson & Shivakumar 2013), most likely the shortterm positive sensation I had after my exercise sessions. Repeated exercise strengthens
the experienced opioid output and in extreme cases can actually lead to a withdrawal
effect for regular exercisers that are kept from engaging in physical activity due to an
injury or other circumstances.
Anderson & Shivakumar (2013) also reference two other, more basic explanations for
the stress reducing potential of exercise: Self-efficacy and distraction. Self-efficacy the
trust in ones ability to exert control over potential threats could be potentially
increased by being able to endure a more or less rigorous exercise routine. It appears
that when a person experiences increased fitness and receives feedback of heightened
endurance and less pain this increases self-efficacy which then in turn translates to a
feeling of being better equipped with other stressful situations. Exercise also poses a
distraction, providing a break from the stressors of daily life and a chance to quite
literally run away from our troubles. This may be particularly helpful in individuals
suffering from anxiety (Anderson & Shivakumar, 2013)
Apart from these more complex effects exercise has on our brain, as mentioned above, it
also has a positive impact on our physical health. Myers (2008) states that moderate
exercise adds, on average, two years to our life span. Exercise strengthens the heart,
increases bloodflow, keeps blood vessels open, and lowers both blood pressure and the
blood pressure reaction to stress (p. 412). An added effect of our knowledge of these
benefits is that actually exercising will give us an accomplished feeling of having done
something for our health. Regardless of how effective the actual exercise may have been,
just the fact alone often enough triggers other people to praise us for our efforts which

may also raise self-esteem. Our society (while simultaneously offering us every
unhealthy choice in the world) constantly communicates the need for health, fit and
beautiful bodies and encourages every effort to stay young. Thus, exercising alone gives
us a feeling of being productive and adhering to a social norm which is another indirect
positive effect of exercise.

Sources:
Anderson, E., & Shivakumar, G. (2013). Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on
Anxiety. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 4, 27. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00027
Salmon P. (2001). Effects of physical exercise on anxiety, depression, and sensitivity to
stress: A unifying theory. Clinical Psychology Review, 21 (1), 33-61.
Myers, D. G. (2008). Exploring psychology. New York: Worth.