
Teenagers And Stress
It troubles me greatly to hear so much these days about teenagers and stress. What I would like to believe is that there are no more troubled teens today than when I was a teenager.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
If you are the parent of a teenager who is struggling with stress, or anxiety and depression caused by stress, I want to help them.
I will work with your teens for FREE to build the stress relief skills they need to effectively manage their symptoms of stress.
Fill out the contact form to get started. |
But, that would be naïve.
What is real is that
physiological stress
exists for teenagers and adults.
With all the stressors of today’s world, you don’t have to be troubled teens to be effected by stress. It just so saddens me that so many of these young lives are being shaped by something they don’t really understand.
Function of stress
Stress is a
reaction, or a
response that occurs naturally in the brain to a real or perceived threat to the body. The stress response happens without thought…
Why?
Because the job of the brain is to automatically help us to survive. It is just like how the brain tells your body to breathe without you thinking about it throughout the day.
The stress response alerts us when our innate balance has been threatened...real or perceived.
And, the stress response reacts or responds on all these facets of all of us…even teenagers:
- Cognitive stress
- Physical stress
- Emotional stress
- Spiritual stress
Cognitive stress and teenagers
With teenagers and stress, it is important to understand that the majority of their stress is from all the thoughts of uncertainty that they face each day.
It is cognitive stress, or their
thoughts of uncertainty, that causes the constant triggering of the stress response.
Why?
For instance, if a teenager were to make fun of another teenager, the brain will often respond to those words in the same way as if that same person had punched him in the nose.
To the brain, those words would be perceived as a threat to your survival. Because of feeling that threat, the stress response gets triggered and away we go.
Remember that the job of the brain is to help us survive. So, WITH teenagers and stress, when they perceive a situation as threatening, then that thought will be interpreted as needing a reaction to protect them.
Teenagers and stress thoughts of uncertainty
Regardless of whether you are a troubled teen, or just one who is stressed, ask yourself the following thoughts of uncertainty…thoughts of fear and worry:
- Does your family have financial problems that affect you?
- Have your parents gone through a divorce?
- Has there been someone in your family with a serious illness?
- Has someone you loved died?
- Are you frustrated with all the demands at school?
- Do you feel there are a lot of expectations put on you?
- Do you feel like you don’t fit in socially?
- Do you feel unsafe?
- Do you struggling with your busy schedule?
- Are you struggling to keep your grades up
- Are you, or someone you know being affected by substance abuse?
If you have answered “yes” to any of those questions, and have been dealing with that stress for awhile you may be in need some help in coping with stress.

What happens with teenagers coping with stress?
So, what happens emotionally to teenagers and stress? Here’s the bottom line with human emotions:
Emotions arise out of a thought…a message…whether consciously or subconsciously…
Contrary to what many of us have grown to understand about emotions, they don’t just pop out of nowhere. There is always a thought that has preceded an emotional reaction…whether good or bad, happy or sad. There is always a thought that came first.
That can be a challenging concept for many.
Teenagers can be particularly overwhelmed by emotional stress and have it play out in their lives with:
- teen depression
- teen substance abuse
- stress and anxiety
- out of control teens
- low self esteem teenagers

Help for teens
I believe in the healing power of balance...the balance that comes from living out of the relaxation response more of the time.
It doesn’t matter how old you are, you
CAN learn how to manage the stress response. You
CAN learn how to integrate some simple
stress relaxation techniques
that will help you feel more in control of your life.
The words of hope that I want to share most to teenagers and stress is that much of what you are struggling with may very well be related to unmanaged stress.
My approach to teaching stress management is not rocket science…it is just effective. The only prerequisite is your willingness to learn together ways to
reduce your stress
.
Share Your Stress Tips, or Ask Your Question
There is so much to learn and understand about how stress impacts our lives. If you have a question related to how stress might be impacting your life as a teenager, or the life of your son or daughter, please share it here.
What Other Visitors Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Reduce your stress teenager Not rated yet
I'm struggling to help my daughter. Can you help me with how to reduce your stress teenager?
Thank you for the question, Brittany. It sounds like …
Why strees happens to teens? Not rated yet
I don't understand why stress happens to teens?
Kathy, thank you for your question. It doesn't seem fair that stress should happen to teens, does …
What happens to teenagers who are in stress Not rated yet
What happens to teenagers who are in stress? I'm worried about my son.
Matt, thank you for the question. In most regards, stress will impact teenagers …
how do i reduce my stress as a teenagere Not rated yet
How do I reduce my stress as a teenagere? I have made a committment to help you figure that out, Anna. I have recently made the decision to work for …
Balance teen stress Not rated yet
Can you tell me if there is a way to balance teen stress? I'm so worried about my daughter.
Angel, thank you for such asking such an important …
Click here to write your own.
For more information see:
Teenage Stress
-- Real help for teenage stress.
Teen Stress Management
-- Is teen stress management necessary?
Return From Teenagers And Stress To Coping With Stress Home
Pay it forward!
There a lot of people who have become overwhelmed by stress and how to get rid of it. I can understand this feeling. But it does not mean that good information is NOT out there. It is.
Please help a friend or loved one by sharing this information with them. Email this link to them or submit this page to your
Tweet account, or
Facebook or your favorite social bookmarking or networking site. Use the links below to pay it forward.