![Stress is everywhere. [AP File Photo]](http://www.jstudentboard.com/reporter/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/JSR_Oct18_SAT.jpg)
According to Art Markman, a professor at the University of Texas, stress is an emotional response that emerges from the motivational systems. The Medical Daily Pulse says it affects breathing, the heart, liver, muscles, stomach, and self-control.
Though stress can be useful in a variety of situations, chronic stress increases the risk of heart problems like high blood pressure and cholesterol increase greatly. It also affects the liver because the stress hormones cause the liver to produce extra glucose, which increases the risk for type-2 diabetes significantly. Because stress causes muscle tension, it can also lead to neck pain as well as headaches.
When asked, “Do you think [stress] is so serious that it can cause death?” a South Pasadena Middle School seventh grader named Makenna told JSR, “[Stress] makes people feel very pressured and limited. It seems like whoever has stress has a horrible life. Stress could be so scary because it could cause people to commit suicide when not in the right mind.”
One particularly stressful time, for students, is during final exam time.
Samantha Park, a junior from South Pasadena High School, told JSR, “The stress [during finals] is so bad. You get like no sleep for like two weeks. You have to stay up studying for about one week before the finals start, and you have to keep studying all night long [once] the tests [have] started. It is the hardest time ever.”
However, there are many ways for people to cope with stress. Some high schools even hire therapy dogs during finals and other major exams.
According to Park, “The dogs are great stress relievers. They are so nice and soft. They make me forget about the finals for a bit… They help a lot.”
Stress can be dangerous. To protect our health, it is important for us to develop coping strategies.
