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Stress : A spice to Form Six students

By Valentina Wong (6AS)

Introduction
Stress is like spice - in the right proportion it enhances the flavor of a dish. Too little produces a bland, dull meal; too much may choke you. This quote from Donald Tubesing simply implied that stress brings both positive and negative impacts to us. Good stress - eustress - is the spark that drives us to achieve more, to improve the quality of our life, to ask for a raise, to fight for justice, or simply to go on a holiday. It pushes us to grow, to change, to fight, and to adapt. Also, British researchers found that while chronic exposure to high levels of cortisol damaged hippocampus, the right amount of this hormone could actually enhance learning and memory.

Stress is only harmful when it becomes overwhelming and interrupts the healthy state of equilibrium that your nervous system needs to remain in balance. Long-term stressful situations can produce a lasting, low-level stress that's hard on people. This can wear out the body's reserves, leave a person feeling depleted or overwhelmed, weaken the body's immune system, and cause other problems.

Research Objective
The main purpose of this research is : to identify the stress level of Form Six students in SMK Lutong, Miri to justify that the male students has higher capacity of resisting stress to seek for the ways for Form Six students to change from distress to destress.

The resistance capacity of the respondents towards stress


Work load stress (%) Varia ble Less Mediu m High Less Medium High Less Mediu m Hig h Less Mediu m High Emotional exhaustion (%) Vulnerability (%) Physical stress level (%)

Male

8.0

24.5

15.0

0.5

30.0

10.0

7.5

20.5

10

25

7.5

0.5

Femal e

4.5

23.0

25.0

2.0

30.0

27.5

5.0

42.0

15

22.5

30.0

2.0

Male VS Female

Figure 1 : Resistance capacity of male students towards stress


Resistance capacity of male students towards stress
35

30

25

20 Low Medium 15 High

10

0 Work load stress Emotional exhaustion Vulnerability Physical stress level

Figure 2 Resistance capacity of female students towards stress


Resistance capacity of female students towards stress
45

40

35

30

25

Low Medium High

20

15

10

0 Work load stress Emotional exhaustion Vulnerability Physical stress level

Best way to relief stress in Form Six students


Percentage of respondents who prefer music therapy as the best solution to cope up with stress in life
1% 1% 1%

15%

Strongly agree Agree Agree somewhat Disagree somewhat

33%

49%

Disagree Strongly disagree

Percentage of respondents who prefer laughter as the best solution to cope up with stress in life

1%

6%
17%

3%

37%
Strongly agree

Agree
Agree somewhat

36%

Disagree somewhat Disagree Strongly disagree

Percentage of respondents who prefer exercise as the best solution to cope up with stress in life

3% 1% 6%

17%

37%

Strongly agree

Agree
Agree somewhat Disagree somewhat Disagree Strongly disagree

36%

Percentage of respondents who prefer other ways as the best solution to cope up with stress in life

2%

8%

6%

18%
Strongly agree Agree Agree somewhat Disagree somewhat

31%

35%

Disagree Strongly disagree

Percentage which shows the best solution for Form Six students to cope up with work load stress, emotional exhaustion, vulnerability and physical stress in their life.

Variable
Music therapy

Frequen cy
122

Valid percentage (%)


38.00

Laughter
Exercise Other ways

92
62 45 321

28.66
19.31 14.02 100

Total

Percentage which shows the best solution for Form Six students to cope up with with work load stress, emotional exhaustion, vulnerability and physical stress in their life

14.02%

19.31%

38.00%
Music therapy Laughter

28.66%

Exercise Other ways

Summary
In a nutshell, it can be concluded that majority of the Form six student in SMK Lutong, Miri, experienced medium stress level, some encounter high stress level whereas very little students experienced low stress level. In other words, most of them had low or moderate resistance capacity towards stress. Generally, according to the data above male students showed higher resistance capacity towards stress. However, there are some ways that can help to cope up with stress in life. In this context, music therapy had been selected as the most effective way to relieve stress in life followed by laughter, exercise and other ways.

Suggestions
We must manage our stress wisely. This can help to reduce stress effectively. Stress management is specially applied in the purpose of improving everyday functioning. A stress journal can be a powerful help to identify stressors in our life. Every time when you feel stressed write down the situation, the reasons that cause the stress and your reaction into stress journal. After doing this for a while, you will notice the patterns that cause stress. Consequently , you can identify you stress can deal it with the most suitable way.

Students are advised not to procrastinate in their work. This is because most of the stress is caused by procrastinate blue. In fact, procrastinators always suffered from high stress level and burn-out. Because of their negative attitude, they can easily walk into depression. This might lead to serious psychological effect and mental disorder. Hence, develop a plan or schedule to help you reach your goals. By doing so you can manage you own priority systematically. Also remember to be flexible, revisit your goals regularly and modify or drop if appropriate. Just because a goal is written down do not mean that it is set in stone!

Conclusion
Stress is our body's response to the demands placed upon it. A little stress is a good thing, but too much can have devastating consequences for our health and lives. Relaxation is the natural answer to stress. We must adapt a positive lifestyle and have a positive mind set. Most of us experience stress in situations where it is not the most appropriate response it is not that stress is the problem, it is just the way we use it in modern society. We must understand the effect of stress and minimise its impact or to promote a sense of wellbeing in our life. Bear in mind stress can be a killer or a force in life!

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