IN K [ ] L I N G S
Crown Point High School Crown Point, IN @InklingsCPHS December 20, 2019 Vol. 84 Issue 4
Key Club hosts annual Christmas party for children
Graphic designer takes on projects for school clubs
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Students, faculty make resolutions for upcoming year page 9
PHOTO BY ALLYSON ZDANOWICZ Science teacher Mike Depta’s class participates in a mindfulness exercise. This stress-relieving exercise, called "take five” breathing, entails tracing the outline of one’s fingers while inhaling and exhaling to decompress.
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BY ALEXANDRA SULEWSKI HALEY THORNBERRY ERIN MULLER co-editor-in-chief advertising editor assistant editor
rom school work to family issues, there are multiple factors that could contribute to increasing levels of stress. Although not all stress is harmful, large amounts of it can manifest itself into sometimes debilitating physical and emotional forms. Social worker Jamie Monday says that one way that the brain reacts to stress is through the fight-or-flight response. This reaction can be triggered by a variety of stressors, even if these triggers are unrelated. “The brain can’t differentiate the difference between a math test or a bear chasing after you. It takes in the same information,” Monday said. “So when you’re in fight-or-flight mode, it turns off the prefrontal cortex. This is where all our executive functioning happens; learning, problem solving, decision-making, kind of like your personality characteristics. All that stuff shuts down. So survival brain trumps learning brain.” Monday says that an elevation to this state can cause a defensive response, making teacher awareness beneficial to the handling of these situations. “One of the ways that I describe fightor-flight is like if the person has boxing gloves on. They aren’t really going to punch someone, but that’s how their brain is interpreting things in the environ-
Stress, pressure takes toll on mental health, ability to learn in classroom environment ment,” Monday said. “Their brain is say- fight-or-flight for a really long time and ing ‘you’re in danger, you need to protect they just get to a point where they’re like ‘I yourself.’ It is helpful as a teacher and as just can’t do it anymore,’ so then they just an educator to understand why they are re- shut down.” sponding that way because then I can reSenior Ainsley Walden says that the spond differently.” source of her stress comes from attaining The cause of the fight-or-flight re- good grades, as well as managing her famsponse lies within a certain system. Mon- ily life. Because of this, Walden believes day contrasts the role that this system plays that mental health should be taken into in the processing of stress to the part of consideration when students create their the body that controls class schedules. more relaxing pro“I think a lot of stuYour brain is a cesses. dents don’t consider it,” muscle. It needs “When we’re in Walden said. “Especially this fight-or-flight, with the honors students, breaks. If it’s going our sympathetic nerand it’s stressed all the they just take what classvous system, which es they think they should time, we need to do take, instead of being is the part of our nervous system that is things intentionally like ‘okay, what are my attached to the fightto help let it relax and nights going to look like, or-flight, is on overam I going to be up until calm down. drive,” Monday said. 3 a.m. every night doing “We want to learn to homework?’” regulate that so that social worker Jamie Monday Balancing the stress our parasympathetic, of taking five AP classes which is our rest and digest and where you with other aspects of her life has taken a feel more calm and at peace, we want that toll of Walden’s physical health. She has to be more activated.” experienced multiple side effects from An opposing reaction to stress can also maintaining her busy schedule. occur, in which an individual can become “I definitely get sick from stress a lot. overwhelmed to the point of shutting down. I get terrible headaches when I have a lot Monday attributes this to a prolonged of stuff going on, which definitely doesn’t amount of time spent in fight-or-flight. help with testing,” Walden said. “Mentally “Other students, they can also go into it’s hard being stressed. It definitely affects freeze (stage). This is where (they experi- sleeping. When I get too stressed I can’t ence) depression and helplessness,” Mon- sleep because everything is just running day said. “They feel like ‘what’s the point.’ through my mind.” ‘Why do I even try.’ They can withdraw or To prevent mental and physical reisolate themselves or just give up. Some- percussions, Monday advises students to times they’ve been going through this take breaks. She says that this can make
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a difference in how the body functions in stressful situations. “Your brain is a muscle. It needs breaks. If it’s going and it’s stressed all the time, we need to do things intentionally to help let it relax and calm down,” Monday said. “If you’ve ever noticed, if you’re chronically stressed, that affects your ability to hear people, it affects your ability to speak. Some people that are really stressed are fumbling with their words.” One of the ways that Monday recommends to decompress is to try deep-breathing techniques. Doing this sends messages through a nerve in the body that promotes relaxation and calmness. “There’s the vagus nerve, so when we talk about our mind and our body being connected, that is the nerve that connects our whole body,” Monday said. “It goes all the way from our brain to our heart to our lungs to our digestive system. So when we take deep breaths in, we’re sending messages from our brains and our lungs, the vagus nerve is attached to our lungs, indicating that it is okay to be calm.” Building relationships with other people is another way to reduce stress. According to Monday, interacting with trusted individuals creates chemical reactions that can soothe the mind and encourage learning. “When you are engaged in a relationship with a teacher or someone that you know cares about you, it does create oxytocin,” Monday said. “It increases oxytocin to our brain, which is the happy chemical. It helps us feel more safe and calm and relaxed in classrooms so that we want to learn. We are more receptive to the things see stress effects on page 3