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EXERCISE 1.2: Stimulation Overload

In the early years of our lives, we crave sensory stimulation: Loud music, fast-moving video games, movies, 

food; the list is nearly endless. All of this stimulation increases our threshold for excitement, and we seek 

more and more to hit this threshold of excitement. All of this sensory stimulation falls under the category of 

“good stress,” that which motivates us and makes us happy. At some point, however, too much of a good thing 

can become bad. Too much sensory stimulation can become sensory overload, which then leads to burnout. 

Burnout is another word for bad stress. This exercise invites you to take an honest look at those things that you 

would consider good stress and how you manage it to maintain an optimal level of health and performance.

1.  What things do you crave for sensory stimulation? Make a list.

2.  How do you know when you have had too much sensory stimulation (stimulation overload)? What are 

the signs/symptoms of personal burnout?

3.  How has your threshold of excitement changed over the years? (If you are under the age of 20, consider 

how your threshold differs from that of your parents and grandparents.)

4.  Do you see an association between too much sensory stimulation and your health status (good or bad)? 

Please explain.

The Good Stress–Bad Stress Curve

Pe

rf

or

mance

Illness

Optimal stress

Good

stress

Bad

stress

Stress level

© Paramount Wellness Institute. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

 

The Nature of Stress

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It’s time to take a personal inventory of your current stressors—those issues, concerns, situations, or challenges 

that trigger the fight-or-flight response in your body. The first step to resolving any problem is learning to 

identify exactly what the problem is. Take a moment to list the top ten issues that you are facing at the present 

moment. Then place a check mark in the columns to signify whether this stressor directly affects one or more 

aspects of your health (mind, body, spirit, emotions). Then, next to each stressor, chronicle how long it has 

been a problem. Finally, record whether this stressor is one that elicits some level of anger, fear, or both.

Stressor

Mental

Emotional

Spiritual

Physical

Duration 

of Problem

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

EXERCISE 1.3: Personal Stress Inventory: Top Ten Stressors

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It’s a safe bet that you will hear the expression “real world” more than once while attending college—the real 

world being the noncollege world of long hours, hard work, and umpteen responsibilities. Years ago, the col-

lege experience was considered a luxury of the wealthy. For many rich kids, going to college was like taking 

a four-year vacation during which world responsibility could be postponed with the promise of a great job 

waiting after graduation. Times have changed dramatically since those Ivy League days of long ago. Going to 

college may not be the same thing as working on Wall Street or in the emergency room of a local hospital, but 

college constitutes its own real world nonetheless. Being a college student comes with its own list of stressors, 

big and small. The following worksheet invites you to rank these typical daily student stressors (from 1 being 

low stress to 5 being high stress). In doing so, you take the first step in recognizing what issues need to be 

addressed in your current life situation.

Part I: How do these typical college student stressors rank in your life?

Stressors

1

2

3

4

5

1.  Coping with roommates, living conditions

2.  Balancing schoolwork with job hours

3.  Making ends meet financially

4.  Academic load (credits, exams, papers, etc.)

5.  Social needs (friends, family, etc.)

6.  Health status, health issues

7.  Food, body image, and weight issues

8.  Transportation (car, traffic, gas, parking/speeding tickets)

9.  Parental issues, childcare issues, etc.

10.  Girlfriend, boyfriend, partner issues

11.   Technology issues (Facebook updates, text messages, bandwidth, 

cloud issues)

12.  Purpose in life issues (declaring a major, finding a career position)

EXERCISE 1.4: Daily Stressors Survey for College Students

 

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Part II: Please list any and all additional daily or weekly stressors and rank these as well.

Stressors

1

2

3

4

5

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Part III: Please add any additional comments you wish to make here.

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© Paramount Wellness Institute. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

EXERCISE 1.4:  Daily Stressors Survey for College 

Students cont....

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