College applications, grades, sports, work and homework are many things that students usually find themselves struggling with, which over time leads to stress.

According to USA Today, more than 27 percent of students find themselves in extreme stress during the school year.

“I always feel like I am under a lot of stress most of the time,” sophomore Marilin Guzman said. “Dealing with school and problems outside of it makes me really irritated and stressed.”

As third quarter begins, students tend to stress more to keep their grades and GPA up.

“I get really stressed every time the quarter is coming to end because that is the time teachers give most of the tests,” sophomore Diamond Harris said.

Stress is defined as a state of mental or emotional tension caused by demanding circumstances such as school, work, family, responsibility and feelings.

According to WebMD, stress is a normal feeling of life that everyone experiences. However, stress can come in many different forms that affect people’s health in different ways such as:

                                                                               Behavior

If a person has too much stress, their behavior can be affected by the risk of depression. Behavioral stress comes in two different stages: the short effects and the long effects. In short behavioral stress, the damage does not have a great impact because it is only temporary. However, in long behavioral stress, the stress levels are constantly high and it does not go away that easily. A person with long behavioral stress might always feel depressed or tired even when they are resting, nail biting and changes in humor are one of the many examples of charge in behavior.

                                                                                  Brain

According to a Yale study, chronic stress can reduce a human’s brain volume which can result in impaired cognition and hampered emotional functions. Besides shrinking the brain, stress can also kill memory and learning cells from the brain. Another effect that stress has on people’s brains is that it can kill chemicals that carry messages from nerve to nerve, which results in the brain becoming inefficient. Stress can also affect the logical thinking of the brain.

                                                                          Digestive system                    

Sleep is one of the things that stress affects the most. When people become stressed, their minds become more active and the amount of sleep they get is reduced. According to the American Psychological Association’s stress in America survey, 43 percent of adults lie awake at night due to stress. The lack of sleep can damage a person’s judgement and vision because their eyes and brain are not getting enough rest to recharge for the next day.

                                                      Respiratory and cardiovascular systems

Stress affects both the respiratory and the cardiovascular systems. The respiratory system is affected when the stress makes one breathe faster when oxygen and blood is being distributed. Stress can lead to respiratory problems such as asthma. When stress levels rise, the heart pumps much faster than it normally does which will then damage the blood vessels as the pressure rises. This can lead to a heart stroke or heart attack.

                                                                           Digestive system

Because of stress, the liver produces extra blood sugar that the body needs. The blood that is not used is reabsorbed by the body. Being under too much stress, the body cannot handle the extra sugar that is in the body, leading to a chance of getting type two diabetes. The rush caused by the sugar can cause digestive problems such as acid reflux. If the person has already developed an ulcer, stress can cause the ulcer to act up more often. Symptoms that can be help detect digestive problems include vomiting, nausea and stomach aches.

                                                                           Muscular system

The muscular system is commonly affected by stress and easily noticed because of the pain. Stress prevents muscles from stretching because you are not giving them a chance to relax. Having tight muscles and nerves causes the strong headaches and sore shoulders that people under stress get frequently. As the pain increases, people might end up turning to painkillers.

Even though stress seems harmless and something common that everyone gets because they are tired, it can also be serious because it affects all parts of a person’s body. Knowing how to control emotions and work can reduce the chances of being over stressed.