Stress-fighting back rubs offered on Mizzou campus

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- A group of stress-fighting University of Missouri students has joined a national effort to ease nerves on campus by providing free back rubs.

Fifty "Stressbusters" will spend one hour Thursday sharing their efforts with students at Stotler Lounge in Memorial Union.

Program organizers say the back rubs reduce anxiety and depression while keeping heart rates and blood pressure down.

A campus organizer says the community health initiative helps students get "focused on their bodies instead of the busyness in their heads that creates stress in the first place."