During adolescence, it is important for young people to develop the skills required to manage the challenges of life and a rapidly changing world. Stress may be defined as state in which our systems are at threat of being overwhelmed. Although the concept can seem vague, stress causes very real and tangible effects to mood and physical sensations and the ability to thrive. Young people must accept that life will be unpredictable and difficult at times, and as such they are required to develop stress management skills in order to thrive.
What is Stress? What causes it?
The first step in managing stress is to understand what it is and what causes it. The physical and emotional components of stress are caused by the release of hormones. These are produced in response to feeling threatened, afraid, or nervous. These hormones lead to physical symptoms including sweating, increased heart rate, or difficulty thinking logically and clearly. Some stress is beneficial. A small amount of stress focuses attention and enhances performance which is useful in situations of trauma and danger. The challenge with stress is that a similar release of hormones can occur when teens are afraid or affected by threats that are not real. As such teenagers need to be taught to distinguish between real threats to health and safety as opposed to worries or fears in their minds that are only thoughts.
Many modern-day stressors for young people are not tangible or real and many others are certainly avoidable. With the onslaught of real-time connectivity, misinformation, social media submersion, tweens and teens often have real difficulty separating truth and fiction. As a result, too many of our teens exist in chronic situations where they physical bodies are overwhelmed by longstanding activation due to misplaced thoughts and energy. In addition, many young people are stressed due to inappropriate parenting, exposure to violence and trauma or negative life experiences with peers that are overlooked.
Creating a Stress Management Plan
An important step in preventing and managing stress is recognition of the concept and creation of a plan to address it. Too many parents dismiss the stress that young people face, furthermore neglecting its impact on their overall development. In three broad categories, parent can help teens create a stress management plan to approach the many situations which arise.
Identifying the Problem
It is an overwhelming experience to pin-point the source of stress. That said, it is far more harmful to exist in a state of constant unrest with no resolution ahead. Teach teens to sit quietly and literally write or voice their concerns. If the matter seems too large, encourage them to break it into smaller and smaller pieces until they are able to articulate the things that are bothering them. Some young people are more comfortable speaking, others will write and many will use creative forms including poetry, art or design. Whichever feels most authentic to them should be supported. When they are then able to identify the source, together you can help them structure a timeline of events and then move into a strategy to plan a solution for each part of the concern. Sometimes stressors are large and relate to community or school issues that are out of their direct reach. Even then, the act of identification leads to some relief as they can confirm matters within their control and those which are not.
Recognizing and Managing Emotions
After identifying sources of stress it is important for teens to uncover the emotions they are feeling so that they do not build up and manifest in negative ways. While small amounts of stress are useful, too much leads to impairment and dysfunction. Allow young people the safety to express their emotions at home. Teenagers need to feel that no matter what, their families provide a lighthouse of security to guide them during difficult times. Adding to their stress by argument or conflict only worsens the context and counterintuitively makes it less likely that they turn to trusted adults for support.
Positive Pursuits and Health
Many things are out of our direct control. This is a challenging concept for teenagers to grasp. Yet still they must be taught to focus on the positive things that are within their reach, in particular their health (nutrition, physical activity and sleep) and their contributions to others, the community, and the larger society. Many powerful and long lasting youth led activities arise out of difficult situations. Teach teens to look at life through different lenses and apply positive attributes to things that they can achieve. It is definitely daunting to live through one of the many stressors that affect young people. There is still, however always the opportunities of hope, resilience and positive development. Create an environment that is solution based and not problem focused and young people will naturally move into directions of wellbeing and positive actions.
