Is Your Teen Stressed?

Are you concerned about signs of increasing stress in your teen’s life? As April is National Stress Awareness Month, I want to emphasize that stress can affect the whole family, not just adults. All parents want to know how to recognize stress in their children and that can be especially difficult when they are teenagers. 

Stress Free Kids founder Lori Lite is committed to helping children, teens and adults reduce stress, lower anxiety and decrease anger. The following tips are Lite’s ways to help you learn more about this growing problem and how parents can help.  

Lite says teenagers experience stress every day and can benefit from learning stress-management skills. School demands and social relationships are UNLIKE anything we as parents have ever imagined. Technology, blurred boundaries, academic expectations and the daily bombardment of hypersexualized media are just some of the stressors facing teens today. Most teens do not have the skills needed to cope with teen anxiety and these stressors. Unchecked stress can lead to anxiety, depression, aggression, physical illness and drug or alcohol use. The Partnership for a Drug Free America states that 73 percent of teenagers reported that school stress was the primary reason for drug use. Some sources of stress for teens might include:

• negative thoughts and feelings about themselves

(American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)

When humans react to stress or danger a physiological response occurs in our minds and bodies to prepare us to respond to danger. This “fight, flight, or freeze” response includes faster heart and breathing rate, increased blood to muscles of arms and legs, cold or clammy hands and feet, upset stomach or a sense of dread.

The same is true for a relaxation response. As soon as we decide that a situation is no longer dangerous, changes can occur in our minds and bodies to help us relax and calm down. This relaxation response was studied by Dr. Herbert Benson of the Harvard Mind Body Institute. It includes decreased heart and breathing rate and a sense of well-being. Teens that develop a relaxation response with the use of stress management skills become healthier, happier, more balanced individuals giving them more choices when responding to stress. Simply taking a deep breath before reacting can change the course of a teens life.

Parents can help their teen in these ways:

• Monitor if stress is affecting their teen’s health, behavior, thoughts, or feelings

• Listen carefully to teens and watch for overloading

• Learn and model stress management skills

• Support involvement in sports and other pro-social activities

Teens can decrease stress with the following behaviors and techniques:

• Exercise and eat regularly

• Avoid excess caffeine intake which can increase feelings of anxiety and agitation

• Avoid illegal drugs, alcohol and tobacco

• Learn relaxation exercises (abdominal breathing and muscle relaxation techniques)

• Develop assertiveness training skills. For example, state feelings in polite firm and not overly aggressive or passive ways: (“I feel angry when you yell at me” “Please stop yelling.”)

By using these and other techniques, teenagers can begin to manage stress. If a teen talks about or shows signs of being overly stressed, a consultation with a child and adolescent psychiatrist or qualified mental health professional may be helpful.