The total population consists of an estimation of 20% teens. Yet teens are sometimes that neglected group of the population. Teenage or adolescent is the intermediate group between dependent childhood to independent adulthood and this transition is never easy. The teenage group is very vulnerable to physical and emotional stress.
Their stress may come from everywhere around them from their families, peers to their education. They may be compelled to follow the footsteps of an elder sibling to avoid comparison from their parents, or teens can be stressed from determining their role and image to the society.
Molding And Stress
The teenage or adolescent stage of life can cause major changes both in the physical and mental aspect of a person. These changes are significant in molding and shaping a person.
Physical changes in a person during adolescence include; increase in weight and height, change in voice, the development of secondary sexual characteristics, and for girls the menarche or the beginning of menstruation. On the other hand mental changes may involve; attraction towards the opposite sex, the feeling of independence, aggressiveness, experimentation.
All of these changes can cause stress to teenagers. It was surveyed that one third of teenagers undergo at least one episode of stress every week. The stress factor or stressors are different for teens and it may be due to; puberty, peer pressure, school demands, safety issues within the community, family responsibilities, negative feelings or thoughts, divorce or separation of parents, holidays, financial problems, or a death of a loved one.
The fact is that teenage girls are more affected or prone to stress than boys. Teenage girls tends to seek help from others for help with their stress while boys respond to stress by dealing with it alone and refuse help from others or by engaging themselves in activities that would help them focus on things other than the stressor.
The family members and friends are usually both the cause and support for teens. Without proper guidance, teenagers use healthy and unhealthy ways to cope with their stress.
Tackling Teenage Stress
Teenage stress can be handled both inside and outside of house. The first step in tackling teenage stress is to identify what caused their stress. The notion that there is no earthly reason for teenage stress should be avoided.
The teens should be allows to talk freely about their problems and they should be supported. Older people around them should help and teach the teens by teaching them stress relief methods and setting realistic goals for them in both curricular and extra curricular activities.
Parents or teachers must ask the teenager to define stress taking an example of an incident and ask them for their natural response to that stressful event. Advice about normal stress response and ways of tackling stress must be explained to the teens. Teach them that different stress can have different responses to different persons. Also, advise the teens to avoid unhealthy methods of relieving stress like aggression, alcohol or drug use.
During the time that a teenager feel stressed, full support must be given by the people around them. Teenagers, like children and some adults, are not ready to face major problems by themselves. They must be inspired to undertake some exercise to forget the stress.
The Positive Effects of Exercise in Stress Management
Work is practically the center of our lives in this generation. Simply speaking, if you don’t work, you don’t eat – and that’s the truth. But despite our needs for basic commodities, too much work would often lead to stress that will affect us physically, mentally and emotionally; an imbalance that will render us incapable of making decision and will lessen our productivity whether to our career or social life.
Stress relief
There are plenty of techniques that will help us cope with stress. Some goes to their respective doctors and asks for medicines that gives temporary relief to their anxiety or regulate blood pressure. Some would resort to meditation and relaxation techniques to keep their mind in harmony using aromatherapy or music therapy to help them along.
Sweat it out
The most advisable tip for stress management is through physical exercise. Sweating it out with by doing something strenuous proves to be more beneficial than taking in drugs or vitamins that might have some side effects on your system.
Most therapist and stress management experts would agree that physical exercise is considered as the best stress reliever during this time and age. Aside from changing your focus from your problems to something productive, physical exercise will help your body function at peak efficiency.
Benefits of physical exercise to your body
Since physical exercise involves a lot of body movements, this will improve your cardiovascular functions and greatly strengthens your heart – this will practically free you from possible effects of stress like heart failure, stroke, high-blood pressure, and so on.
When your heart is attuned to the exercise regime, blood circulation will also improve which in turn increases oxygen throughout the body. Your cholesterol level and other harmful bio-chemicals will be reduced and will lessen the chance of your body breaking down due to the negative effect of these substances.
Physical exercise also helps you mentally aside from keeping your body in perfect shape. Indulging in various forms of physical exercise will provide an outlet to stress-related emotions such as anger, fear, frustration, depression and irritability. Since exercise improves the circulation of chemicals to your body and brain, hormones that elevates certain responses to your body will be reduces as well; keeping you relaxed and in control.
Tips in setting up an exercise program
Now that you know the positive benefits of physical exercise to your mind and body, all you need to learn is how to set up an exercise program that will not hinder your career or social life.
It is recommended by experts that a person should have a regular exercise 3 to 5 times a week, for at least an hour every session. In fact, teens can actually use protein powders to accelerate muscle recovery and make sports easier. Try to budget your time to include a healthy dose of exercise. Wake up extra early in the morning to jog around the block, or do some stretching in your own backyard. The fresh air will compliment your physical exercise since the fresh oxygen you breathe in would be healthy to your body.
A visit to your local bookstore, gym and stress management seminar may prove to be a treasure of information on different kinds of exercise you can do to take away your stress.
Give yourself a break and start taking care of your body before it breaks down – if it does, then you’re in big trouble. Avoid it!
Tips On Managing Your Stress
Not all stress is bad. Stress can start change, aid you in focusing the task at hand, and in some cases can even save your life. Although a build up of stress can result in major risks. Do not let stress accumulate otherwise the result can be fatal.
There are tips and steps in managing your stress. The first thing you need to do is determine and understand the cause of your stress or the stressors. By recognizing the stressors, you can put each of them in place and deal with them one by one.
Breathing And Relaxing
Oxygen is very important to the body. Taking a deep breath adds oxygen to the system, which can help you relax. Learning how to breathe can help you maintain your self-control in a stressful situation.
You can start by taking a deep breath. Stand up and stretch. Always remember that the opposite of stress is relaxation. Take a short walk, get a glass a glass of water and do something that can change your focus. Try smiling and take a short moment focusing on something else other than your problem. By the time you get back to your problem, it would not seem nearly as undefeatable.
Enjoy The Good Things Of Life And Be Positive
Sometimes you can forget to enjoy the good things of life if you let stressful events build up. Remember that life offers more things other than work. Reserve some time to actually recognize the good things in your life.
Every situation has both pros and cons. List them both, put them away and take a second look tomorrow. Sleeping on a situation can sometimes changes disadvantages to advantages.
Everything in this world exists in a balance. Negative can never occur without the positive. Learn to find good in your stressful situation and try to change every negative events into positive.
Know Yourself And Your Limitations
To manage stress effectively, it is very important to know yourself and your limitations. Sometimes, learning to say “No” can spare you from stress build up. If you are in a working environment, do not just accept work loads if you think you cannot manage them easily. By recognizing your limitations, you can evade situations that can usually lead to the piling of work.
Most situations can be out of control. Always be positive and refrain from blaming yourself. If you continuously beat yourself with guilt, not only will you not be able to manage your stress but worsen the situation.
People who unsuccessfully use and resort in drugs and alcohol to avoid facing their problems usually find themselves in a twelve-step rehabilitation program. A major stress management tip is asking for help from friends, family or workmates. You are never alone and there are always people around you willing to lend a helping hand. There are professionals and self-help books that can aid you in relieving stress by giving you useful advice.
There are other several ways to help you manage your stress. If you are into books, sometimes taking time by reading your favorite book can help you in putting the problem away from your mind. Taking a warm bath and watching your favorite show on TV can also help you.
By managing and planning your time and prioritizing the most important things first can prevent stress from building up. Always remember that the keyword in better stress management is Relaxation.
Be Happy – Teenagers can also remove their Stress.