When Finals Week hits and stress levels of students peak, it can seem like a hopeless situation. However, there are things students can do to cut back on stress, experts said.

“Finals Week means many things to students,” said Vesna Hampel, stress counselor at the ISU Student Wellness Center. “It is often the accumulation of stress over the course of long periods of studying that causes problems.”

Stress can take its toll on the body, said Hampel, graduate student in psychology. Short-term effects of stress include increased heart rate, headaches, stomach aches, irritability, digestion problems, sleeplessness, anxiety and depression, she said.

There are good and bad ways to deal with stress, Hampel said.

Some students increase their intake of alcohol, caffeine or nicotine when stressed. Hampel said these methods are ineffective because they “keep us from listening to the signals our bodies may be telling us about the level of stress we have and what we need to do to feel more relaxed.”

Effective ways to handle the stress of finals include learning effective study skills and relaxation techniques, talking with friends and family, sleeping, exercising and eating well, she said. Exercise, in particular, is an effective way to deal with stress, said Panteleimon Ekkekakis, assistant professor of health and human performance.

“Finals Week is precisely when you need a natural stress-relief method such as exercise the most,” he said. “Exercise can reduce apprehensive thoughts, negative emotions, nervousness and tension and can lower the level of physiological reactions to stressors.”

Ekkekakis said finding time to exercise is just a matter of time-management. “There are always 30 minutes during the day that can be set aside for exercise,” he said.

Exercise also can help students to think better while studying and taking final exams, he said.

“Following exercise, people show a relatively small, but significant, improvement in cognitive performance,” he said.

What students eat during Finals Week also may have an effect on stress levels, said Becky Hammitt, dietitian at the ISU Student Wellness Center. “During Finals Week, there is a tendency to do more snacking,” she said. Hammitt, graduate student in health and human performance, recommended keeping a regular meal schedule, storing healthy snacks and avoiding overeating.