This is going to be the second last blog for the course and I thought I would choose a research article that can be helpful and related for end of semester. I choose two research articles about stress and University and Dental school examination. We all know that exam has a fear and as far I know all students even the ones that always get A’s in their tests stress before taking an exam. The most stressful week for University or college students is the finals week. In this week most students do not get enough sleep, yet they eat mostly junk food like sugars, crabs, caffeine.
I found another statistical fact about final exams and students suicidal rate. In few research articles that I review it was written that many students can’t take the stress of final exams especially in medical schools and kill themselves. It is a harsh truth because few years ago my cousins classmate in medical school in Virginia suicide because she was not ready for the end final exam. There are many ways to find solutions for stress for example in our school the health center offers stress management seminars. Also it would help to study in a study group to talk with other students. I know that many families are helpful during final weeks and try to call or get in touch with their son or daughter, but many families pressure the student to get good greats or to pass all classes and that was the case with the medical student I mention above her family pressured her to pass all courses or they won’t pay her fees for next semester.
It relates to essay “The Doomed in their Sinking,” by Willam H Gass because his mother did suicide to be free from miserable life she had, but he calls it murder. I thought maybe in this case then the death of this student can be called murder since her family warned her and pushed her. I still think suicide is not answer to any kind of harsh problem because all problems have solution. We need to work harder than find the easy way out. Gass said, “Yet my mother wasn’t what we call a suicide eve thoug she died as though she’d cut her throat when the vessels burst there finally.. since the murderer who arsenics his wife little by little is a murderer [..]”(p. 374). I still think she could have left her husband and lived her life freely, but we know it was written many years ago and back then women did not have rights as now and men were the dominant ones in the society so made the decisions. What do you think about the suicide of the medical student? Is she in same situation as Gass mother?
The first research article titled, “Nonlinear Heart Rate variability features for real-life stress detection, Case study: student under stress due to university examination,” talks about stress and it is relationship cardiovascular diseases. They take EKG or ECG of students after final exams and as control after holidays. The result shows that the stress levels in students are much higher during examination and it could cause heart disease in long run.
The researchers’ state, Stress has been investigated as risk factor for cardiovascular disease [1] and for reduced human performances, which in some situation, such as dangerous works or driving a car, may result in negative consequences. Stress influences the balance of Autonomous Nervous System ANS [2].
The second article is about dental school students in their third year in Singapore and they were asked to rate their stress before taking the exam from 1-5 and 5 being extremely stressed , where; most students chose 4 or 5 after exam their saliva sample was taken for level of cortisol, Immunoglobulin A( IgA) , and chromogranin A ( CgA). Their findings were that these hormones levels in saliva were higher before taking exam. These are hormones that are secreted more from hypothalamus to cope from stress and bring body back to it is normal physiological level.
It is hard for me to summarize the articles without using scientific terms, but below is links for both articles and it is very helpful to read them and Good Luck everyone with your finals do not stress too much. Let me know what do you do to during final weeks to study better or to lower your stress level?
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http://www.biomedical-engineering-online.com/content/pdf/1475-925X-10-96.pdf
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