What to do when the stress hits?

[Occam's Razorburn]

I don't mean to ridicule anyone, but I laughed out loud when I read that people relax by lifting weights. It's even funnier, because I know Occam's Razorburn. We're very different people, but I'm pretty sure that neither of us lifts weights (or would lift weights in any close possible world). I have some friends and family members who lift weights, exercise, or go jogging. (I'm pretty sure that's a soft 'J'.) I'm glad they take pleasure in these things.

 There are definitely close possible worlds in which I lift weights, Ian.  No but actually, all of this is great stuff. Now, I just need to force myself away from TGC and my computer screen and actually take the advice. Meditation sounds great; it's something I used to do, but I've kind of fallen out of the habit.

[ZiggyPhil]

(I'm not currently waiting to hear, but I was last year and will be again next year)

 

Either we've got a forum full of teetotalers or people aren't being forthcoming.  Alcohol is remarkably anxiety-reducing, but for health reasons this shouldn't be your primary technique given how long the waiting season is.  Other substances can be equally effective.

 

I myself find it very difficult to focus on reading of any kind when I'm anxious, and something dense like philosophy is totally out of the question.  For me, TV works best, particularly watching DVDs of a show you've seen before but don't remember the details of.  Since you know the gist of the story it keeps you entertained without requiring real concentration, and the just-one-more-episode syndrome helps keep you from deciding to get back online when each episode ends.  Buffy got me through my last application season, and I expect it will be West Wing that does it next year. 

[turambar85]

What do I do when I'm stressed?  I sit in front of the computer, cycling between grad cafe forums, grad cafe admission results, my e-mail, and the status checker.  I cycle through these every 30-40 seconds.  

 

When am I stressed?  I checked grad cafe and found that decisions for the one school that I applied to are made between the 21st and the 28th.  So, from the 21st until now.  I haven't done a bloody thing other than refresh the previously mentioned four pages over and over like the broken neurotic that I am.  

 

Help.  Please help.  

 

PS: It has become considerably worse since they cruelly changed the status checker from "In Review" to "Decision Made" on Saturday morning.  I had originally hoped to have broken the spell over the weekend and to have either been productive or had fun.  That has tightened the chain, and I won't be moving from my computer until a decision has been made.  

Edited February 24, 2014 by turambar85

[catwoman15]

As a grad student, when the stress hits, it's working time. But then, when I'm going to die because I can't think anymore, I get drunk, listen to punk music, and dance around my house.

 

Dancing is really great because it a) gives you exercise, releases endorphins by raising your heart-rate (or some other science stuff I don't understand) and, c) is super fun.

 

For maximum stress relief, yell song lyrics while dancing and continuing to drink. Do this until you're hungry, eat a lot of food and then fall asleep. 

[dgswaim]

I don't mean to ridicule anyone, but I laughed out loud when I read that people relax by lifting weights. It's even funnier, because I know Occam's Razorburn. We're very different people, but I'm pretty sure that neither of us lifts weights (or would lift weights in any close possible world). I have some friends and family members who lift weights, exercise, or go jogging. (I'm pretty sure that's a soft 'J'.) I'm glad they take pleasure in these things.

I do find that a good session in the weight room helps. This, I think, is probably because I played football for something like 11 or 12 years and so I have some sort of psychological link to weight lifting as a productive, stress-reducing activity. 

 

I don't really find other forms of exercise very helpful. I tried using my running/cycling routine to help reduce stress, but I tend to think far too much during such exercises for it to be very effective.

[wandajune]

As a grad student, when the stress hits, it's working time. But then, when I'm going to die because I can't think anymore, I get drunk, listen to punk music, and dance around my house.

 

Dancing is really great because it a) gives you exercise, releases endorphins by raising your heart-rate (or some other science stuff I don't understand) and, c) is super fun.

 

For maximum stress relief, yell song lyrics while dancing and continuing to drink. Do this until you're hungry, eat a lot of food and then fall asleep. 

 

Definitely adopting this as my new stress-relief method.

[TheVineyard]

Have sex.

...Assuming you were lucky enough to be accepted into your bedroom of choice. If you are still on a waitlist, hopefully you will get a decision before April 15th.

Edited February 27, 2014 by TheVineyard

[Rollontheground]

^ 170/170

[MattDest]

As a grad student, when the stress hits, it's working time. But then, when I'm going to die because I can't think anymore, I get drunk, listen to punk music, and dance around my house.

 

Dancing is really great because it a) gives you exercise, releases endorphins by raising your heart-rate (or some other science stuff I don't understand) and, c) is super fun.

 

For maximum stress relief, yell song lyrics while dancing and continuing to drink. Do this until you're hungry, eat a lot of food and then fall asleep. 

 

We should hang out. This sounds awesome. 

[Table]

Either we've got a forum full of teetotalers or people aren't being forthcoming.  Alcohol is remarkably anxiety-reducing, but for health reasons this shouldn't be your primary technique given how long the waiting season is.  Other substances can be equally effective.

 

Regularly using alcohol/thc/whatever to cope with stress is a great way to develop a psychological addiction. Working on some behavioral stress-management techniques will increase your ability to deal with future stressors. Using a psychoactive substance as your coping technique is likely to decrease it.

 

I think this is worth repeating:

 

It's good to practice good habits now, because it only gets harder from here.

 

It's hard to break habits, and it's especially hard to break coping habits. It's not worth it. (especially with alcohol, because it will kill you.)

[PhD applicant]

I've actually taken a little advice from this thread and jogged/sprinted about a few times. It was good advice... it actually worked... smarter people than me around here. Some of the advice I don't think I will take though. No offense.

[catwoman15]

We should hang out. This sounds awesome. 

 

Unfortunately, I live in the northeast now, and our work is really different. But perhaps one day we can listen to titus andronicus and drink cheap beer together.

[ZiggyPhil]

Regularly using alcohol/thc/whatever to cope with stress is a great way to develop a psychological addiction. Working on some behavioral stress-management techniques will increase your ability to deal with future stressors. Using a psychoactive substance as your coping technique is likely to decrease it.

 

I think this is worth repeating:

 

 

 

It's hard to break habits, and it's especially hard to break coping habits. It's not worth it. (especially with alcohol, because it will kill you.)

 

 

Apologies if I am misreading your tone, but this comes across as more than a little condescending.  A few points:

 

1.) I didn't suggest alcohol was a solution to everyday stress - we're talking about a particular event that is far more stressful than most people experience in the normal lives (and I actually didn't suggest alcohol at all, I was just pointing out a disconnect between what people actually do and what was being reported in this thread).  Obviously, turning to any potentially addictive and harmful substance as your primary means of dealing with stress is dangerous - I assumed this went without saying among people well-educated enough to be applying to graduate school.

 

2.) I myself cautioned against overuse and suggested an alternative, so why respond as if I said "Just drink all your problems away" ?

 

3.) If you use a sedative-hypnotic drug (eg alcohol), it's a bit silly to pretend that you don't use it to achieve it's primary effect (relaxation). 

 

4.) A blanket statement like "alcohol will kill you" is obviously and empirically false, and smacks of puritanical moralizing. 

[Establishment]

Apologies if I am misreading your tone, but this comes across as more than a little condescending.  A few points:

 

1.) I didn't suggest alcohol was a solution to everyday stress - we're talking about a particular event that is far more stressful than most people experience in the normal lives (and I actually didn't suggest alcohol at all, I was just pointing out a disconnect between what people actually do and what was being reported in this thread).  Obviously, turning to any potentially addictive and harmful substance as your primary means of dealing with stress is dangerous - I assumed this went without saying among people well-educated enough to be applying to graduate school.

 

2.) I myself cautioned against overuse and suggested an alternative, so why respond as if I said "Just drink all your problems away" ?

 

3.) If you use a sedative-hypnotic drug (eg alcohol), it's a bit silly to pretend that you don't use it to achieve it's primary effect (relaxation). 

 

4.) A blanket statement like "alcohol will kill you" is obviously and empirically false, and smacks of puritanical moralizing. 

 

I'll have you know my ancestors were puritans and I don't take kindly to associating puritanical moralizing to something negative.

[dgswaim]

As a descendant of Irish Catholics, I'm fairly certain that I'm morally obliged to drink alcohol regularly. I oblige. 

[Table]

1.) I didn't suggest alcohol was a solution to everyday stress - we're talking about a particular event that is far more stressful than most people experience in the normal lives (and I actually didn't suggest alcohol at all, I was just pointing out a disconnect between what people actually do and what was being reported in this thread).  Obviously, turning to any potentially addictive and harmful substance as your primary means of dealing with stress is dangerous - I assumed this went without saying among people well-educated enough to be applying to graduate school.

 

2.) I myself cautioned against overuse and suggested an alternative, so why respond as if I said "Just drink all your problems away" ?

 

3.) If you use a sedative-hypnotic drug (eg alcohol), it's a bit silly to pretend that you don't use it to achieve it's primary effect (relaxation). 

 

4.) A blanket statement like "alcohol will kill you" is obviously and empirically false, and smacks of puritanical moralizing. 

1.) I don't see a disconnect, because the thread is what to do to relieve stress, not just what do you do to relieve stress. Which is why I read your post as a suggestion (not for alcohol, but for "other substances"). If it wasn't, I misread you. 

This is a stressful period in our lives. We will have many more. Like I said, coping habits are hard to break. 

 

2.) I took us to be agreeing about alcohol as a coping strategy and disagreeing about other psychoactive drugs. 

 

3.) There's a significant difference between using a drug as a coping strategy and using it broadly to relax. Plenty of research indicates the former is significantly more dangerous in terms of addiction. 

 

4.) I actually did not mean that in the sense in which it is obviously and empirically false. See 2, 4.

[PhD applicant]

I feel like a cow waiting to get slaughtered for the meat packing plant.

[greencoloredpencil]

There's a reason my account is "greencoloredpencil." I love to color! (and green happens to be my favorite color) 

[dgswaim]

I'm feeling compelled to drink today. *cheers* 

[PhD applicant]

I've just been using tips from YouTube videos about how to sing to make a lot of noise here, hoping to disturb my neighbors with my bad singing. It's oddly relaxing, making lots of bad singing noises, over and over.

[Pheminism]

I was wait-listed at two great schools and the anxiety hasn't let up at all. I just re-checked my tentative offer email (for the 87th time, at least), and I realized it's only been five days. It feels like a lifetime... it feels like I could die waiting!

[humean_skeptic]

I was wait-listed at two great schools and the anxiety hasn't let up at all. I just re-checked my tentative offer email (for the 87th time, at least), and I realized it's only been five days. It feels like a lifetime... it feels like I could die waiting!

 

I feel your pain. Just wanna get in off the AZ wait list as soon as is logically/metaphysically possible

 

 

And, incidentally, I did my MA at McMaster, so I can provide some info about the department if you're interested.