How To Cope With Stress By Exercising

By John K. McGowan

I was given the selected topics in which I could write about. It took me a long while untilI finally decided which one topic I want. All the topics seemed interesting and worthwhile to do. It was very difficult to decide on the exact topic at first, but then I thought about the things that I like to do best and came to a conclusion. I spend three or five times per week exercising after school, so I thought it would be the best for me to write about health and fitness and its' effects. Since I put a lot of time in exercising, it would be interesting to know what kinds of benefits I can learn and gain from it. By selecting and researching on this topic, I learned the many positive outcomes in exercising and staying fit. This research paper motivates me to exercise harder and be happier while doing it.

After I came up with a topic, the next thing to do is to come up with a thesis. Finding a specific thesis was the most difficult part of this term paper. I spent hours at the library looking through health books to find my thesis and must have glanced through dozens of books. I found a book where a chapter was on coping with stress. Since i was going through so much stressing finding my thesis, and doing this research paper, I though I should look into it. I was satisfied with my findings.

I learned so many things about stress that will benefit me in the near future. I looked up several terms for my thesis in the Library Congress of Subject Headings. Although I found a long list of subject headings, I must say that I could not find a decent subject to fit precisely with my thesis. I had to guess that my thesis would fall under the broad subjects.

Some of the subject headings I sought were, Stress (Psychology), Physical Fitness, Strain and Stress, Stress Relieving, Exercise, and Physical Education. Under these subject headings, I found additional ones such as, Life Changes Events, Mental Stress, Exercise, Health, Relaxation-Stress and Health Education. Among all of the subject headings that were listed, the one that came the nearest to my thesis was the sub-heading, Relaxation-Stress, which came under the subject heading of Stress Relieving.

If I had more time, I could have either found more subject headings in the abridged edition of the Library Congress of Subject Headings, or look through the current editions for new released subject headings. From time to time, subject headings change, and I might be able to find more of the new ones in the recently published editions. As for now, the subject headings from the abridged edition will do perfectly well.

I used the Opac, Comcat, and card catalog to find my desired books. I mainly searched for topics and subjects in these three different typed of catalogs. They are Exercising, Stress (Psychology), and Stress and Health Education. I found that the subject on Stress and Health Education the most useful information for my thesis. I jotted down all the information about Stress and Health Education from Opac, Comcat, and the card catalog. I also jotted down the call numbers for the books and then searched for them. Once I located my desired books, I found all the information on stress that I needed.

I have never used the Library Congress of Subject Headings in my entire life. I found it very resourceful, useful, helpful, and especially in helping me to find that specific subject that I needed. It gives me a better idea to where to look for my books in the library. Whenever I have a research paper to do in the future, I will most likely use the Library Congress of Subject Headings.

I found the Library Congress of Subject Headings to be a very useful tool. On the other hand, I have problems with the Info-Trac. My inexperience with computers gave me great difficulty. Same with the Opac, the Info-Trac took me a long time to find my subject. I feel that the Info-Trac and the Opac only cover the subject in broad informations. I punched in Stress on the computer and it gave me over 200 listings under the subject Stress. I had to search for the specific subject for my thesis, which took me a very long time. I am not satisfied with the Info-Trac, and would rather use the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature.

Whenever a question arises, the librarian was always there to help me. I am very satisfied with the librarian and without the librarian I would be totally lost. They always gave me answers to my questions immediately. Once I asked a librarian informations on the Opac, Library Congress of Subject Headings and how can a journal and a magazine be distinguished in the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. She gave me all of the answers with no time delays. I like their knowledge, services, friendliness, warmth, and positive attitudes. I now feel more confident with the school's library.

Psychological and sociological abstracts are the two indexes that I used. I didn't find it too useful because I didn't know which heading my topic came under. From the sociological abstracts, I looked under sports for my topic. I didn't find too many articles that fit my thesis, but I found other interesting articles, such as the stereotype for athletes. The article states that athletes are not dumb jocks, but are assertive, alert, and very active in thinking. The other index I used was the psychological abstracts. Surprisingly I found the psychological abstracts to be the worst. I could not find anything that was related to my topic. I looked under the heading Health and Medicine, but there was absolutely nothing good listed.

I didn't like searching for my thesis in the psychological or sociological abstracts. The only thing I did like is the interesting articles that were not related to my topic. I find it easier to search for my topic in the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. It seems like the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature had more specific headings which made it easier to use. I recommend the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature of just the plain card catalog over the sociological and psychological abstracts when doing a research paper.

I felt that searching into the psychological and sociological abstracts was a waste of time. Looking through these indexes just delayed my time without obtaining any information. At this point, I had no notes whatsoever. This is when I looked through the Info-Trac to start some notes and information relating to my thesis. I felt somewhat satisfied with the Info-Trac.

Finding the right audio-visual tape was one of the most difficult tasks in this research. I watched three or four that I thought would be good for my thesis, but it turned out that it had absolutely no relationship with my thesis. I guess the reason for this was the fact that the films covered health in general and did not cover my thesis in depth. It was a big mistake to watch films under general health subjects. At that time, I was confused and didn't know what subject heading to look for in the card catalog. Then finally a classmate helped me out and said, "look under stress in the card catalog". I looked under stress and found something close to my thesis.

Although it took me a while before I decided which audio-video tape to select, I learned something from the other tapes. One audio-video tape, "Life Adjustments", kept entering my mind. I though it was very interesting, and I learned a lot from it. It's about a college student being overly stressed by school. He tries to get rid of his stress by playing around and not doing his homework. Soon the film character found himself flunking almost all of his courses which made him very moody and depressed. His friends noticed his moodiness and advised him to see a counselor. The counselor told him that he must take one thing at a time and face his responsibilities. The counselor said that by facing responsibilities, you are helping yourself to grow into a mature person.

Getting back to my thesis, the tape on stress that I found most interesting and helpful was an audio tape. It talked about ideas on how to deal with stress by using different techniques. One technique is demonstrated where you look yourself in the mirror and say, "I am a good person, and I can handle anything". By saying this and other positive things about yourself, you can lessen your stress.

When it was time for me to gather all of my references, I took my book lists with call numbers. I searched the shelves for my books, but most of the books I looked through covered only the broad facts about my topic and not the specific facts about my thesis. My topic is health and my thesis is how to cope with stress by exercising. i spend a majority of my time reading empty facts. Out of three days I spent in the library gathering references, I only found five references. Each day I spend three hours searching for my books and out of the three hours, I found only one reference. That's not even one reference per hour. That's a lot of researching and wasting time. Each of my references only took fifteen to thirty minutes to read, which was easy. The hard part was searching for the right books.

Sometimes I found it easier to look for my reference at the general areas of the shelves where my books were located. The books that I have on my list are not always on the shelves, but the good reference books that are not on my list are nearby. I noticed that just looking through the book shelves without searching specifically for a book, may sometimes be easier and faster. I made it a point that I just picked up two or three books from the card catalog and searched for more books in the general area. I rather do it this way than spending so much time looking through the card catalog.

My thesis, how to cope with stress by exercising may be found in my reference list. "Keep Fit in Your Executive Job" by Harry Johnson is the best reference I have. The entire book is dedicated on knowing yourself and keeping yourself fit in both mental an physical aspects. A long whole chapter, which is one-third of the book is based primarily on relieving stress by being fit (physically). It states that when a person exercises while working a stressful job, he/she may eliminated his/her stress and work at a higher level with more control. The second book I have is "Human Biology in Health and Disease" by Shirley Burke, explains what happens to the body under a lot of stress. The body deteriorates when the mind is in profound state of confusion or stress. My third and last book "Health of the College Student" by Jesse Williams doesn't actually cover my thesis precisely but it had many very interesting facts to cope with his stress, he should understand it. If you have a better understanding of how stress occurs, then you know better on how to control it. "Tension Erasers" by Barry Belt, illustrates how a person can reduce stress. He introduced various kinds of techniques such as self-relaxation and convincing yourself that everything will be alright, so it will help you be a more positive person and reduce your stress. He also talks about exercising being food for you. He mentions that before you go to work, you should exercise so your body will be more relaxed throughout the day. He said try to walk to work or walk the stairs at your working place instead of riding the elevator just prior to arriving at your job.

Basically all my other references come down with the same conclusion. The bottom line is to relax and think positively about yourself. Exercising helps your body and mind to relax and make you feel you are doing something worthwhile to yourself. This "worthwhile" activity help you feel good about yourself. I could write down all of my references and write it is about, but it will all sound the same. I feel it is not necessary to go on any further with writing more of my references such as the journals.

I wanted to borrow two other books that deal with my thesis in greater depth, better accuracy and more in content but someone manage to somehow take it away from me. It all happened when one day I left my University of Hawaii Identification Card at home and went to the library without it. I found the two perfect books for my thesis that I wanted to borrow, but I couldn't do so because I didn't have my identification card with me. I was in a sticky situation, the only thing that was left for me to do was to reserve the books at the library and pick them up the next day with my identification card. But when I went to borrow my books the next day, it was gone. I looked through the book reserve shelf at least three times to make sure I looked well, but the books were not there. I even checked the place where the book originally belonged in the library case but it was not there either. I was very upset because those books were the perfect books for my research paper. I learned something very valuable from this experience, do not leave your University of Hawaii Identification Card at home.

Leaving home without my identification card is just one of the many mistakes that I made during the processing of my research paper. The next time I ever do a research paper, I would like to do it one the subjects, procrastination. Procrastination was my biggest problem I had. If I started earlier, I could have done a much better job. At least now I learned my faults and the next time I will try to correct it.

Besides learning my faults, I also learned things that were related to my thesis. I learned intriguing facts about the mind and body and its relationship with stress. The most interesting fact I found was that the body, while exercising, produces the same kinds of chemicals you may find in antidepressant pills. It's no wonder whenever I exercise I feel much better and relaxed. This has always been in my mind ever since I learned it.

I also learned something about the mind. A person who exercises regularly tends to feel better about him/herself then a person who does not exercise. People who have a higher esteem or feel better about themselves are able to handle stress better. Research shows people who exercise regularly simply live al longer and happier life.

I am extremely satisfied in learning all the information that I gain doing this research paper. I exercise a great deal, and I feel it is very worthwhile. I feel it makes a big difference in a person's attitude in life. The information that I have just learned will enable me to apply my knowledge about health. I understand more about myself. Now I understand why every time I stop exercising I feel a little depressed. But when I exercise my attitude changes into a more extroverted and positive one. I feel like I am more desired by more people and want to seek more social challenges when I exercise. I can now understand my feelings. I find this research paper very interesting and inspiring. I have gained a lot of worthwhile information and experience that will help me to grow. In doing his research paper, I found myself very pleased with interest and confidence.

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