Seven weeks down, seven weeks to go. Break was a much needed week for many students. People are walking around sleep deprived and thriving on caffeine. Everyone is starting to become more and more stressed. Are more classes being skipped and homework being forgotten? There are now studies connecting the effects of stress on the memory, and also the long terms effects as well.
Stress is a physical and mental reaction to something that is found as a challenge, struggle or troubling task. The body will pump adrenaline and other hormones throughout the body to help become accustomed to the situation.  This used to be mostly for survival purposes, a fight or flight response. After the aggressor is diminished, the body is able to lower to the baseline again. Although, constant stress will cause mental and physical tolls on someone. Stress that does not get relieved is called distress. When the body reaches this level, someone may get headaches, chest pains, high blood pressure and more problematic physical tolls.
Short bursts of stress, called controllable stress, is good for the mind. It may cause someone to work efficiently, or cause alertness in problematic or worrying situations. With these experiences, it can cause a person to remember the situation. If a student waits to do a project until the night before, they may remember the stress they felt and use that as encouragement to start earlier for the next project.
When under the stress of multiple activities, this could cause a temporary memory loss dealing with other subject areas. The stress could cause sharper focus on the task at hand, but then may cause a memory lapse in other tasks, like forgetting to attend an appointment or a smaller homework assignment. The stress causes humans to focus and make rational or quicker decisions, but not necessarily with flexibility.
The Wall Street Journal accounts for recent studies involving the relation of stress and dementia or various memory-related illnesses. There is a much greater risk of the illnesses in people with high levels of stress for prolonged periods of time. Some of the greatest stressors were losing someone or seeing a something violent. For example, soldiers who were in battle and witnessed gruesome scenes or caused casualties themselves suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. When untreated, the victim is effected a lot mentally, but they may cause physical harm to themselves or others.
Dr. Rajita Sinha, a professor of psychiatry and neurobiology at Yale University, noted the biological effects on a person’s brain.
“Research has shown that while branches of brain cells can shrink and start to disappear,” said Sinha. “That doesn’t mean that if you get divorced, you’ll get dementia. But the risks are there.”
The brain is an incredible organ. It has the ability to heal or make up for lost portions. If cells are damaged or lost, sometimes there is a chance to repair or rebuild the missing parts. To consciously repair or avoid losses, there are a few ways to help with stress-management. Sleep plays a key role in healing the body, also staying hydrated, proper diets and exercise benefit the human body physically and mentally. Another key avoidance is multitasking. Put focus on one task at a time.