Helping Teens Handle Stress
If you have a teenager in your life, it is important that you do everything you can to try to help them handle the stress that they will face. Teen stress can lead to drugs and alcohol use, depression and many more problems. It’s important that teens know how to handle their stress in a positive and appropriate way.
Teen Stress
Different people deal with stress in different ways and this goes for teens as well. How your teen handles stress will depend on their personality as well as what you have taught them.
Causes of Teen Stress
There are many different causes of teen stress. Teenagers have a lot of things to worry about. Some examples are:
- Peer pressure
- Choosing a career
- Overwhelming expectations
- Constant changes
- Worrying about family, friends, and even money
Life is always changing and stress is the way a person’s body and mind reacts to theses changes. Learning how to deal with, and handle stress when you are a teenager will affect your health and ability to be successful as an adult. It is very important not to take a teenagers stress lightly, but help them find ways to deal with their problem in a healthy and safe way.
Ways to Help
If you know a teenager that is stressed out and needs some help getting things back into perspective here are a few ideas. The most important thing is for the teen to have someone to talk to, perhaps a brother or sister if not a parent. If there is not a family member or close friend your child can go to, then you should seek outside help for someone your teen can confide in, like a support group or counselor. If your teenager does not have friends in school, then find other places for them to meet people and make friends like a local community center, church groups, or let them join a sports team like basketball, or soccer, any way for them to meet other teens, who may be looking for a friend too.
Let the teen know you realize stress is a big problem for them and even though there is no cure for stress, you can learn ways to deal with it, so you can live a happy and seemingly stress free life. The key is for the teenager to find a way to relieve stress that works for them. It’s important for them to talk to someone, and for you to be there when they need you.