Teenagers, much like adults, experience stress on a daily basis through many avenues and can benefit from learning how to manage this stress. Teenagers tend to experience stress when they find an activity or situation difficult or painful to complete, which is often due to having inadequate coping resources.
Sources of Stress
Each individual can have stress originating from numerous internal and external sources in their lives. It is critical to identify these sources and manage them before they take a severe toll on mental health. Listed below are a few potential sources of stress for teenagers –
- Excessive demands from school
- Problems with friends at school
- Unsafe living environment or neighborhood
- Taking on too many activities and setting unrealistic expectations
- Severe family problems
How can stress affect the teenage brain?
As a teenager, experiencing stress on a regular basis has become normalized to a large extent. Hence, we tend to believe that stress is a normal part of our lives. However, adolescence, in particular, is a stage in development when the aspects of stress are in flux. When our bodies sense a stressor, they kick into fight-or-flight mode, where our nervous system will then release the hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Over time, these effects can become chronic and detrimental to our overall health.
The teenage brain is generally more anxious than an adult brain, which can be contributed to the rapid development in our younger brains. Also, teen brains have larger pleasure centers than adult brains, which denotes that rewards are more appreciated and embraced. This is emphasized with unsupervised risks as well, which structures the teenage brain to be largely exhausting.
Methods to Manage Stress
There is a plethora of methods that can be employed to manage stress. If you find yourself experiencing any of the stressors listed above, do not hesitate to ask for help as you are not alone! Everyone feels stressed out at times. However, it is possible to manage everyday pressures by creating stress management strategies and techniques –
- Stand against overscheduling. We are often guilty of stretching ourselves too thin. So, when you feel overwhelmed, consider cutting out an activity or choosing/prioritizing the ones that are the most important.
- Maintain realistic standards. Do not try to be perfect because no one is. It is unnecessary to put pressure on yourself. If you need help with something, do not stop yourself from asking for it!
- Get good sleep. Our biological sleep clock shifts during our adolescence. Many teens prefer to stay up late. However, you still need to get up early for school. Hence, you are not getting an adequate amount of sleep.
- Learn to relax. A natural antidote for our body is our relaxation response. It is the opposite of stress. You can activate this response by simply relaxing! An easy way to do so is practicing breathing exercises and then implementing them during stressful situations.
- Treat your body well. Get regular exercise and eat well to ensure that your body functions at its best.
- Solve the smaller problems. Take action to solve the smaller problems that occur. For example, if you are stressed over homework, then size up the situation and figure out more efficient ways to handle it.
There are always things that can be done to handle stress that come along with any new challenge – whether good or bad. Stress management skills work best when they are practiced ahead of time and not only when a situation occurs.