What comes to mind when you hear the word "stress?"
"No one said law school would be easy!"
"Don't come complaining to me! Quitters never win!"
It's hard because you are not good enoough! Obviously the GREATEST GREATS WHO EVER GREATED and teh COOLEST COOLS WHO EVER COOLED and the !!!~~!***BEST FRIENDS<3**!~~!!! are all doing amazingly SWEEITESSSSS and the reason that you are doing badly is because THEY ARE SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOUUUUUUU!!!~~~~~ #theyaresomuchcoolerandtheyareallthegreatestandbestestandyhouareWORTHLESSandINFERIORTOTHEMLOLZ!!!!!
Stress:
“the physiological or psychological response to internal or external stressors.
Stress involves changes affecting nearly every system of the body, influencing how people feel and behave. For example, it may be manifested by palpitations, sweating, dry mouth, shortness of breath, fidgeting, accelerated speech, augmentation of negative emotions (if already being experienced), and longer duration of stress fatigue.”
Source: American Psychological Association, 2018
Physical Stress Responses:
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Difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, frequent wakening
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Eating less or eating more
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Feeling gastro symptoms (upset stomach, nausea)
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Shaky voice
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Acting snappy or sharp (verbally or physically)
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Rushing or paying attention to details
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The ‘flop’ response or a complete lack of energy or exhaustion
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Aches and pains
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Weakened immune system
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Rash or hives
Source: Cleveland Clinic
Emotional Stress Responses:
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Feeling anxious or nervous
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Feeling depressed or hopeless
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Denial or pretending that everything is fine
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Feeling flat or numb
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Feeling panicked
Source: Source: Cleveland Clinic, 2024
Stress Management Strategies:
Agai
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Know yourself best
AM focus vs. PM focus
What is too much for one person may be not enough for another person
2) Secret of adulthood is to ask for help
Help with life tasks (laundry, meals) or with work tasks
Help with academics- study group for external accountability
Could be with psychotherapy with Mantra, EAP, DC LAP
3) Embracing “good enough” rather than maladaptive perfectionism
Could be with your day job
Could be with studying and entering law school
Could be with an aspect of your identity such as the all-A student
Scheduling pleasant activities (Boswell et al., 2017)
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Even if it is 1x/week or 1x/biweekly, it is important to schedule and complete activities that are pleasant and unrelated to law school or your day job!
5) Emotion labeling (Torre et al, 2018)
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May be effective for you to name what emotion you are experiencing
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This might include more positive emotions than you would have expected! This could also include problem solving approaches for negative emotions
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Gratitude, appreciation
6) Thought work: (Barlow et al., 2020) Catch yourself if you fall into these thinking errors:
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Catastrophizing: (‘If I do not get above a 3.5, that means I will not get the job that I want, meaning that I cannot pay off my student loans, meaning that I will never be financially successful, meaning that I've totally wasted my entire life.")
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Overestimating the likelihood of negative events: ("I am two weeks behind in my reading. That means I’m going to fail the final exam and then fail out of law school.")
4) Behavioral Activation:
-Schedule pleasant activities to look forward to, even if it is 1x/week or 1x/month
Boswell, J. F., Iles, B. R., Gallagher, M. W., & Farchione, T. J. (2017). Behavioral activation strategies in cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders. Psychotherapy, 54(3), 231–236.
5)Emotion Labeling:
Torre, J. B., & Lieberman, M. D. (2018). Putting Feelings Into Words: Affect Labeling as Implicit Emotion Regulation. Emotion Review, 10(2), 116-124. https://doi-org.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/10.1177/1754073917742706
-May be effective for you to name what emotion you are experiencing
-This might include more positive emotions than you would have expected! This could also include problem solving approaches for negative emotions
-Gratitude, appreciation
Eckman’s core emotions: Happy, sad, mad, scared, surprised, disgusted, ashamed
6) Thought Work
Psychological research (from the Unified Protocol/Barlow) shows that the two most common “thinking errors” for high functioning people in their treatment study include:
Catastrophizing: (‘If I do not get all As, that means I will not get the job that I want, meaning that I cannot pay off my student loans, meaning that I will never be financially successful)
Overestimating the likelihood of negative events (I am a week behind in my reading. That means I’m going to fail the final exam!)
Barlow DH, Harris BA, Eustis EH, Farchione TJ. The unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders. World Psychiatry. 2020 Jun;19(2):245-246. doi: 10.1002/wps.20748. PMID: 32394551; PMCID: PMC7215073.