How Academic Stress Impacts Mental Health

In a Gallup poll of over 2,400 college students in 2023, 66% of students reported experiencing stress, and 51% stated they experience worry “during a lot of the day.” While some levels of stress may be expected, chronic academic stress can significantly harm the mental health of high school and undergraduate university students. Understanding what academic stress is and recognizing its signs may be helpful in mitigating its potential impacts, including adverse mental health outcomes.

What is academic stress?

Academic stress typically describes a specific form of stress that occurs in educational environments, such as high schools or colleges. According to the UK Mental Health Foundation, stress may be described as the way that the human body responds to specific life events or situations. When the stress response is activated, certain hormones are produced, such as cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. In some cases, the release of these stress hormones can be beneficial, as they may help a person respond to potentially harmful situations or complete an important task. After an event has concluded, the level of these hormones often returns to normal. However, repeated exposure to stress can negatively impact mental and physical health.

While everyone’s experience with stress can be different, the following are some potential signs of stress among university students and high school students:

• Feelings of anxiety or fear
• Sleep disturbances
• Anger and aggression
• Sadness and feelings of depression
• Irritability and frustration
• Difficulty making decisions
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Indigestion
• Nausea
• Substance use as a coping mechanism
• Difficulty breathing
• Constipation
• Excessive sweating
• Heart palpitations

While these symptoms may cause an individual to feel discomfort, in some cases, they may only affect someone for a short period of time. However, chronic stress may have longer-term effects that may significantly impact a person’s physical and mental health. 

How can academic stress affect your health? 

The American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that chronic stress may have a variety of impacts on a person’s mental and physical health. These may include:

• Inflammation and risk of disease: Chronic stress may increase the risk of several conditions, including heart disease, stroke, and hypertension. Due to the high levels of cortisol that can be associated with stress, an individual may experience higher triglyceride, blood sugar, blood cholesterol, and blood pressure. This, coupled with other stress effects, such as poor blood flow, may damage the muscles of the heart. In addition, stress may cause inflammation and over time could suppress the body’s immune system. High cortisol levels may reduce the body’s ability to fight this inflammation.
• Cognitive impairment: Research suggests that chronic stress may negatively impact the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain responsible for memory, attention, reasoning, and planning. Researchers believe that this may be due to stress’s ability to suppress glutamate receptor expression. The results may make it difficult to function in a variety of environments, including school. 
• Increased risk of addiction: Research indicates that stress may be a risk factor for the development of addiction, including substance use. Engaging in addictive behaviors, such as alcohol consumption, drug use, and gambling, may be used as a coping mechanism by those experiencing chronic stress. 
• Gastrointestinal effects: Chronic stress may also negatively impact the gastrointestinal system, including the esophagus, the stomach, and the bowels. For example, stress can cause pain, nausea, bloating, and vomiting, which can create discomfort and affect how food is digested. Stress can also affect gut bacteria, which can influence mood. This may create a feedback loop in which an individual experiences stress and it affects their gastrointestinal system, which then creates more stress. 
• Sexual effects: The APA indicates that stress may also impact sexual arousal. Stress can potentially reduce the production of sex hormones like testosterone or estrogen, which may change an individual’s sex drive or libido. 

In order to potentially avoid the impacts of high academic stress, it may be helpful to try a variety of coping methods. While each person is unique, certain techniques may help to address the source of stress or reduce a person’s overall stress levels. 

How to cope with academic stress

The APA recommends several ways to cope with stress that may be helpful for students. These include: 

• Identify the source of your stress: While academics may be at the center of your concerns, there may also be specific parts of school or outside situations that are causing you stress. One technique to identify these situations may be to write down the challenges you are experiencing, such as pressure from parents, difficult classes, and problems with relationships. This may make it easier to figure out how to address these sources of stress. 
• Establish a support system: Positive relationships with friends and family can help to protect students from stress by offering emotional support. Having a solid support system can provide a safe way to discuss the challenges you are experiencing and talk about ways to reduce stress. It may also be beneficial to identify negative relationships in your life, as these could compound your stress levels. By addressing those relationships, a student may experience more positive mental health outcomes and greater academic achievement.
• Start an exercise regimen: Exercise may help to reduce the levels of hormones like cortisol in the body, which may reduce academic stress. In addition, exercise can also produce endorphins, a type of neurotransmitter that can relieve stress, reduce pain, and improve an individual’s mood. The type of physical activity you choose can vary but may include running, biking, swimming, lifting weights, or participating in an intramural sport. 
• Get proper sleep: In addition to increasing stress, poor sleep may have a variety of negative effects on the body. These may negatively affect an individual’s judgment, memory, and mood while also increasing the risk for physical health conditions, such as high blood pressure. While the amount of sleep a person requires may vary, it may be beneficial to get between seven and nine hours a night. In order to get this amount, it may be necessary to improve sleep hygiene. This may be accomplished in various ways, such as reducing screen time, avoiding alcohol and caffeine near bedtime, and keeping a regular sleep schedule. 
• Seek mental health support: While talking to loved ones and engaging in self-care can be helpful, these steps alone may not be enough to address academic stress. In many cases, it can be beneficial to discuss stress and other mental health challenges with a mental health professional. Research suggests that therapeutic approaches, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, can help to address a variety of conditions and mental health disorders, including stress, anxiety, and depression. 

Are you having difficulty with academic stress?

A therapist may be able to help

Seeking therapy for academic stress

While discussing perceived academic stress with a mental health professional may be beneficial, doing so in person may be difficult. Some individuals may live in an area without a sufficient number of therapists, which could increase wait times. Furthermore, students may not have time to schedule face-to-face therapy sessions due to their schoolwork. In these cases, it may be helpful to try other options, such as online therapy. With online therapy, students can discuss the ways that academic stress affects them in a safe setting, with communication via audio, video, or live chat. A licensed therapist who understands the relationship between academic stress and mental health may use an instrument such as the Academic Stress Scale to assess students’ level of distress. They may be able to offer tailored mental health resources and teach students methods for controlling stress.

Research indicates that online therapy can be effective for the treatment of stress. In a 2023 scientific review, researchers assessed 12 articles concerning digital psychotherapy interventions and their ability to address the mental health challenges of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. They found that digital therapy, in addition to decreasing stress, reduced the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Researchers also found that digital therapy reduced emotional fatigue and worry, while increasing resilience, relaxation, emotional regulation competence, self-esteem, mindfulness, and self-efficacy.