Before we understand how students can deal with anxiety, we have to understand the difference between a stressful situation and a situation that can make students anxious. We can understand this with the help of a simple example. When a child forgets to upload their homework on the LMS, they get stressed out. But they are extremely worried, about the long term, and continuously think often about their career situations in the future because of their lacking progress in the present times. This reoccurring stress because of long-term goals could be anxiety.
Anxiety is a trait rather than an emotion that happens temporarily. When some students get stressed out often, about situations that usually should not be stressing them out, it could be because of other underlying mental issues where anxiety is an important symptom. This is also why the school council or the ERP management of a school should arrange for counsellors at all times.
Besides a counsellor or psychiatrist, teachers can also play the role of ultimate guidance by providing students with some tips on dealing with their anxiety. This is done through self-care.
Meaning of self-care
Self-care is an important solution that an individual, especially growing children learn. It makes them confident, self-reliant, and independent.
Often, students are dependent on their parents, classmates, or teachers for emotional needs too. This is good but only up to a certain extent because relying too much on anything, in general, can make a child incapable of doing some things by themselves. Teaching them to take care of themselves from time to time is a good step towards learning its benefits. Here are some self-care tips for students dealing with anxiety;
Exercise
This is very common advice that most parents and teachers like to give to stressed-out students. But for them to truly start exercise incomer they need to understand its benefits and how it can help them relax.
Practically, when we exercise we keep our body moving for certain durations. Intervals are also important for your body to take a break. Consider some light exercising, such as jogging or lifting weights. This is assumed because students don’t have a lot of time to practice cardio or go to the gym regularly. Light exercises relax our muscles and keep our blood circulation at a constant pace. Continuous blood flow allows proper digestion and students don’t feel bloated or tired. This physical fitness gives them the freedom to feel well emotionally too.
Meditation
Meditation is a method of learning to relax and clear our heads of unnecessary thoughts which accelerate our anxiety rates. When meditation is practiced in the early years of childhood, the mental development and productivity rates are much higher than students who don’t meditate. This helps them in the long run. They can also continue the practice of meditating regularly by focusing on their breath, counting it, and untangling their thoughts.
Meditating can treat students to the art of remaining calm in stressful situations. It improves their focus, and they find it easier to concentrate despite the distractions present around them. It is a mental training that has been proven the most useful for reducing anxiety. The best thing about meditation is that, unlike exercising, there is no desire for having company while meditating.
Relaxation training
It is a professional program provided by gym instructors, individuals practising yoga, or trained doctors and nurses. Students can visit tutorials online, or ask the institution to arrange relaxing training classes. The process involves tensing and relaxing some muscles in our body which are the pressure points for voluntary relaxation. Once students are trained enough, they can help themselves by training every day at home to keep a calm demeanour.
Cognitive behavioural therapy
Books, blogs, and websites about cognitive behavioural therapy are useful for students. These sources are suggested because seeking professional help would no longer make it self-help. Students might find related books in their library, or request the school authorities for the same. It would benefit a lot of students, in the long run, improving overall institution performance. A lot of professional teachers practice cognitive behavioural therapy for themselves because taking classes can be stressful too.