Mental and Physical health of working students

Everyone faces their own problems with their health, be it mental or physical; working students too; their health can be impacted if they cannot find a healthy and maintainable balance between their work and academics. Working students from our survey cite that they feel stressed and anxious from the pressure of work and school. Because they have minimal breaks between the two, they also get fewer hours of sleep, which leads to sleep deprivation. All of this work can lead the working student to burnout. It's important for working students to identify these health issues before they get worse. While it is advised to speak to professionals about how to treat mental and physical health issues, there are some solutions working students can try to improve their overall health.

Stress and Anxiety

Working Students often experience stress and anxiety due to the combined pressure of school and work. The weight and burden of multiple responsibilities can cause stress for working students, making them feel overwhelmed and hopeless. Approaching deadlines, additional workload, and expectations lead to working students to develop anxiety. The added fatigue from juggling academics and work can heighten the levels of stress and anxiety for working students.

There are many ways working students can lessen their stress levels and anxiety. On their own, they can try calming and relaxation techniques like meditation, self-reflection, journaling, and writing down their thoughts and feelings. Talking to a friend or family member can help ease stress and anxiety and provide comfort. The most effective way is to seek professional help and advice.
 

Sleep Deprivation

In our research we found that around 50% of working college students lack sleep, sleeping less than 5 hours on average. The average healthy amount of sleep for a young adult is around 6 to 8 hours; however, due to long work and school days, working students are unable to get the proper amount of sleep. This lack of sleep can lead to sleep deprivation, which can have varying effects on working students such as impaired focus, memory issues, and cognitive function. Academically, sleep-deprived students can lose focus in class, produce poor quality work, and have a hard time keeping up with lessons. Long-term sleep deprivation can also have more severe and permanent effects on working students' health. 

Working students need to find more time to rest and sleep to prevent sleep deprivation. Reducing hours at work and/or taking a lighter load in school, overall reducing workload, can loosen the schedule of a working student, thus allowing them to get more sleep. 

Burnout

As working students continue the cycle of school and work, piling up their responsibilities until they are no longer able to handle it, they may enter a state of burnout. Burnout can impact the working student’s academic and work performance as well as their health. They can become demotivated, detached, frustrated and disappointed in themselves. In severe cases extreme burnout may cause the working student to drop out to either recover or focus more on work. This extreme burnout can be a detriment to their future. 
There are some methods to avoid burnout. When the working student feels like everything is too heavy to carry and is starting to feel overwhelmed they should take a break to recharge and plan out what to do next. If they start to feel unwell they need to prioritize their health, rest well and know their limits. Reducing academic load and work hours can lessen the chance of burnout.

Conclusion

Working students need to take better care of their health, and the health concerns that come with being a working student need to be discussed more. A 2022 study from Mapua Malayan Digital College shows that 45.2% of working college students considered dropping out due to a decline in their mental or physical health. Your health is always a priority; working students cannot be able to perform well in both academics and their jobs if their health is not in a good state. Working students should find time to rest and recharge to avoid health issues, as well as eat healthy and get proper sleep.