Stress and Adolescents
More and more teens are becoming stressed, due to pressure from
families, from school, peers, social media, from activities and from
the pressure they put on themselves to excel. It is important for
parents to pay close attention to the amount of stress their child is
experiencing.
Often parents are not aware of whether or not their teen is stress
or to what degree their child is experiencing stress or depression.
Teenagers are battling a variety of different issues in their life and
the addition of unnecessary stress can simply weigh them down
and make life seem unbearable. Teens often haven’t developed
skills to deal with stress, so can be more severely affected than
adults.
Stress can negatively impact sleep, which in turn can affect almost every other avenue
of teen’s life including, diet, physical health, academic performance, relationships,
safety, motivation, learning etc.. Teens who do not get help to learn to manage their
anxiety are at risk for becoming, angry, depressed, break rules/laws, or engage in
earlier substance abuse.
Social Media and Teen Stress
Today's teens are exposed to everything about their existence to other teens 24 hours a day through updates on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and Ask FM which only increases stress. Many teens are always plugged-in and no longer get a break from peer social banter. This leads to an increase in distractibility, increased blood pressure, and less time for the body to slow down in the evening as bedtime approaches. As a result, the anxious brain disrupts sleep which can have a negative impact on the entire immune system as well as social, emotional, and academic functioning.
