Hey readers!
I’ve been wanting to do a post about this since I started (2 days ago) but I thought I’d write some silly posts first before I got too deep. But what’s the point? Why wait, when I could be talking about real and important issues right now. I had already started to write about social groups at school, but I couldn’t get into it. It felt too trivial (for now anyway, don’t worry it will come soon), it’s important we address things like this, so without further ado…
Stress
To start off, here is a Wikipedia definition of stress, because to understand, you must know exactly what stress is:
In psychology, stress is a feeling of strain and pressure. Stress is a type of psychological pain. Small amounts of stress may be desired, beneficial, and even healthy. Positive stress helps improve athletic performance.
This response all starts with a part of your brain called the hypothalamus. When you’re stressed, the hypothalamus sends signals throughout your nervous system and to your kidneys.
In turn, your kidneys release stress hormones. These include adrenaline and cortisol.
As a teen, many people (adults in particular) are confused by the fact we get stressed at such a young age. “What have you got to be stressed about!” or “You don’t know what real stress is”. All this is very frustrating to hear because only you know how you feel. Others may think you’re exaggerating, but if that’s how you feel, trust yourself.
“The survey found teens experience both emotional and physical symptoms of stress. Common symptoms include feeling nervous or anxious, feeling tired, procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities, feeling overwhelmed, having negative thoughts and experiencing changes in sleeping habits.”(from http://www.apa.org)
Everything from a big load of school work, a detention, your parents, friends, the list continues… There’s a lot that can set you off, and you quickly feel overwhelmed and want to cry. I know this happens to me at times. Occasionally something as simple as a lot of homework and not enough time or a big test, makes me feel stressed. I feel like crying, breaking something and sad at the same time. It’s a terrible feeling.
Stress can overburden your mind until you feel you can’t think about anything else. You may lose sleep, you may feel jittery, you may feel hot, you may sweat, your might find it difficult to breathe, you might cry, you might have stomach pain, headaches, worsening acne(this annoys me the most) …it can get worse and more serious, but you get the idea.
Funny how a physical thing, like a test or money can wreak so much havoc in your body! Scary, I know!
Negative stress over anything no matter how small must be eradicated from your life, because it has no benefit (although a little bit of stress every now and then isn’t so bad). If stress is taking over, and you feel it’s consuming you, you must do something.
What you can do🙂
Try some and see what works for you!
- Take deep breaths- This always relaxes me when I feel I’m about to explode. Breathe in through the nose for four seconds, out your mouth for four seconds.
- Create a stress/feelings diary– Last year towards the end of year 9, when I was feeling really overwhelmed, whenever I felt stressed, I’d write down what was stressing me and exactly how I felt. You can do this and keep them in a locked note perhaps or even write it down physically. Sometimes writing down what is stressing makes the problem seem smaller.
- Excercise– Before you scoff, I’ve mentioned before i love sport and excercise. Excercise and sports work for relieving stress because your mind is concentrating on something else other than your problems. Recently, when I received some stressful news and my hands started to shake I did the only thing I could think of. I put down my phone, clicked on a playlist and started dancing! (My sister thought I was crazy) Afterwards I felt a lot better as I was distracted and soon after I realised the stress was not worth it. Yoga, dance, Pilates, anything, just to take your mind off it.
- Down time– Stress is often caused by a build up of pent up emotions which suddenly make there way out. This is why it’s important, that every once in a while, you have some down time. Whether it’s to bake, paint, read, do something you enjoy every once a week and trust me, you’ll start to feel a lot better.
- Get some rest– Sleep is important and vital for a healthy mind and body. Sometimes a good nap can solve all your problems. (This works for me, I always feel better when I wake up!)
- Tell someone how you’re feeling- A problem shared is a problem halved. Sometimes telling someone, anyone can make you feel better. Voicing how you feel often makes the problem seem less, maybe the person can even help you!
- See a doctor-Sometimes, your stress really is something you can’t control or stop, this is when it’s damaging to your health. As soon as you realise, “Hey, there’s something wrong here” see a doctor to give you the correct medical advice. Occasionally your stress may have something to do with any underlying mental health problems. So if you get worried, see a doctor, there’s no harm in checking.
Things to remember❣️
- Most of the things you worry about are negative outcomes you think may happen and won’t
- Other don’t pay as much attention to what you look like and do as much as you think (sorry to disappoint you!)
- When you can’t think straight, stop.(Unless it’s really important revision and you’re just tired)
- Don’t ignore your feeling, face them, don’t bury them because when they unearth, you’ll feel worse
I hope this posts helps anyone that often feels overwhelmed by stress whatever the reason, I’m glad I addressed this, we can’t always discuss light topics. Remember increased feelings of stress can lead to depression and anxiety so DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Thank you for reading and remember, you can’t control the wind, but you can adjust the sails. Look after yourself!
A Secondary School Girl's Blog 