By: Meruni Are
Stress has always been a large factor in many students’ lives for many reasons. A few reasons are schoolwork, sports, clubs, parental pressure, and many more. Students in college tend to have the highest levels of stress. As discussed by Kindbridge Behavioral Health, the leading reason for stress in college is “academic competition.” This competition doesn’t start once you get to college, though, it starts as soon as you start your college applications. Some academic competitions are good because they motivate you to work harder for good grades. You feel more motivated to do better due to pressure from other students, your parents, and more. However, too much competition leads to substantial amounts of stress, which causes depression and anxiety. In the end, this stress lowers academic performance.
Stress due to academic competition has taken a great toll on the overall lives of high school and college students. As stated by Professor of Neurology, Xue Ming, “ranking systems, peer pressure, global competition in the job market, and parental and societal demands regarding grades,” are the main reasons for stress. Depression has many negative, harmful effects. As said by the National Library of Medicine, depression leads to a decrease in energy, concentration issues, and difficulty when trying to make a decision. Stress doesn’t simply affect random people as there is an evident correlation. Specifically, non-binary second-year students in college were recorded to have experienced the highest levels of stress in the relative COVID-19 years. The second group of students that experience the most stress are athletes in college. Each of them are trying to find a balance in life while keeping up with schoolwork and their sport.
Furthermore, students majoring in science, law, business, or engineering have been recorded to have more stress than students studying humanities. Academic competition has significantly increased since COVID-19 years. In summary, some stress and academic competition in education are helpful to academic performance, but too much causes harm to a student’s mental health and well-being.
Works Cited
“Academic Competition and Mental Health Issues.” Kindbridge Behavioral Health, 24 October 2022, https://kindbridge.com/mental-health/academic-competition-and-mental-health-issues/. Accessed 9 July 2024.
Artuch, Raquel. “Family and Academic Stress and Their Impact on Students' Depression Level and Academic Performance.” NCBI, 16 June 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9243415/. Accessed 9 July 2024.
Khalili, Najmeh, et al. “Academic Stress and Mental Well-Being in College Students: Correlations, Affected Groups, and COVID-19.” NCBI, 23 May 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9169886/. Accessed 9 July 2024.