Stress Management
Snowed under. Wound up. Stressed out.
Rapid changes – physical, cognitive, emotional. Minds racing 24/7.
Why do I look like this? Why can’t I be thin or curvy or tall or muscular? Why do I feel this way? Why won’t people just leave me alone and let me do what I want? Be who I want?
Will people like me? What will I do if they don’t? Why do they pick on me? How do I say no to things I don’t want to do?
It’s a huge balancing act: family time, friend time, school time, activity time, work time.
But there doesn’t seem to be any “down time.” There’s barely any time for sleep.
But there’s plenty of tension coming from all sides – family and friend relationships, life after high school, sometimes even safety issues in the school and community.
Teenage stress is an important health issue.
And the ways in which teens cope with these stressors can have significant short- and long-term consequences on their physical and emotional health.
What is stress?
It is the body’s reaction to a challenge, which could be anything from outright physical danger to asking someone for a date or trying out for a sports team.
The good, the bad, and the ugly
We all experience both “good stress” and “bad stress.”
Good stress is that highest amount of stress that results in our feeling energized and motivated to do our best work. Good stress motivates us to develop effective coping strategies to deal with our challenges; problem-solving, in turn, ultimately contributes to our resilience.
Bad stress occurs when our coping mechanisms are overwhelmed, and we don’t function at our best. The same event can affect children and adults in very individual ways – one person may see a carnival ride as thrilling, for example, and another may see it as a major stressor.
Sometimes, even supposedly positive life events, such as getting a first car or job, graduating; prom; and athletic, artistic, or academic competition can quickly turn into negative stress-producing crises. It’s no wonder that one of the most popular teen anthems of the past decade features a character named “Blurry Face” who longs to return to the time when he didn’t have responsibility and his mother was always there to care for him.
And the bad stress carries ugly health consequences from bad habits to eating disorders. Diabetes to depression.
Simply put, stress can take all the joy out of youth. But what can you do?
Therapy can help.
In therapy, teens can learn to separate the difference between good stress and bad stress.
In addition, they can develop and practice coping skills to manage the feelings that cause discomfort and in some cases panic.
Together, we’ll discover what’s causing the stress and how best to combat it.
Unwind. Unplug. Chill out.
Don’t let chronic stress put a damper on the present – or the future. Call for an appointment to conquer it now.