AP psych students explore options for reducing stress

Melissa Rogers, psychology teacher at CFHS, had always believed that learning should be an experience that engaged both the mind and the heart, so her AP psychology students will be participating in de-stress labs throughout this semester, and for the first one, Rogers said, “In our health and psychology unit, we’ve been discussing how stress affects both our mental and physical well-being. For our first de-stress lab we’ll be using an app called “Goosechase,” which will divide the students into five groups to go on a scavenger hunt to go through activities such as deep breathing, stretching, etc., but before any of this at the start of class we will rate our stress level 1-10, then use the blood pressure cuffs to take the BP and heart rate and write up a hypothesis for this study.”  

After the goose hunt the students get to pick out a meditation activity, which includes meditation, journaling, yoga, drawing, reading a book, listening to music or taking a 10 minute session of locking in on a certain task to reduce their workload, but most exciting of all was spending time with Rogers’ English bulldog Ophelia. 

Junior Ashlee Pierce said, “After the goose chase in the hallway I jumped at my first chances to pet Ophelia. I wasn’t the only one. Other students eagerly took turns petting her as she came to us with big smiles on our faces. I examined how I was feeling in this moment, and I felt calm being with Ophelia, then the start of class and didn’t realize how much tension I was holding until now. This will be a truly ‘pawsitive’ experience for all of us.”

After interaction with Ophelia, other students were already starting on the activities, including junior Oliver Ryckman, who picked up a yoga mat. “When yoga mats are provided, best know I’m going to use one. I searched up YouTube tutorials and just had at it, and it was really fun, especially to do it in class.” 

Senior Lily Schmitt said, “I thought breathing exercises and listening to music would work best to settle nerves, but honestly, hanging out with Ophelia made the biggest difference for me.” 

Junior Trinity Jurries collected her results. “My pulse and BP was 144 and 117 at the start of class, and then after the activities, a test at the end of the class period and it went down with 129 and 88 with my stress level going down as well.”

When the experiment concluded, the students analyzed their results. The data was clear—Ophelia’s presence had the most significant impact on lowering their heart rates. 

Then the students recorded their BP and hearts rates, rated their stress level 1-10 and filled out the reflection questions tied to this study. 

“So, what does this tell us?” Rogers asked, guiding the discussion at the end of the class period.

Pierce said, “It tells us that being around Ophelia and doing all these other activities distracts us from stress and helps release dopamine and oxytocin, the  feel-good hormones. It tells us that positive interactions, like being around a calm and friendly animal, can help reduce stress. This is why therapy dogs are often used in hospitals and schools. I guess that means dogs are just magic,” she said as she laughed.

The students nodded in understanding, their anxieties already melting away as Ophelia flopped onto her bed for a well-earned nap.