How to Handle Your Stress
By Kayston Purdy
Stress is a very important topic that many kids in high school and even middle school may experience and struggle with. Growing up, it is hard for lots of kids to find out how to manage their stress. They are often not taught how, either at home or at school. There are many different tips and tricks on how to deal with stress, and there are no rules with how you do it, but I am going to talk about a few that tend to work for people.
- Take a break from social media – It is important to “unplug” from the internet and social media, so give your head a break from all the drama, political views, and everything else that goes on. It is good to focus on yourself and not worry about what celebrities or other people are doing and live your own life.
- Take care of your body – There are many ways to take care of your body, such as getting plenty of sleep, eating healthy, staying in shape or exercising, and avoiding drug use or any alcohol.
- Avoid use of drugs and alcohol – Drugs and alcohol can cause you to stress out or have your mind in the wrong places, creating issues with yourself or others.
- Social Interaction – It is also important that you do not isolate yourself from others and make sure that you are having open conversations with friends or family.
- Understand when you need help – If you notice that you are having problems with your mental health, such as stress, depression, or anxiety, it is important that you get help when you think that you need it.
- Make time for yourself – It is a good idea that you do not overwhelm yourself with other things and that you make time to do things that you like and enjoy doing.
I interviewed two teachers at Mossyrock High School to get their point of view on how to manage stress, considering they both handle students all day.
Art teacher Melanie Hadaller had a couple methods that she uses –
- Having self-talks in her head for when she is stressed out to calm herself down.
- Breaking things down into smaller steps and doing things one step at a time to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
- Listening to music helps calm her down.
- Cleaning also helps her calm herself down
Science teacher Phil Voelker had two things he wanted to add for teachers to listen to –
- He said, “The cool thing about being a teacher is that you only have to make it through 50 minutes and then another, and so on, until the day is done, and you can go home.”
- He also said, “Do not take anything that anyone says personally, because you do not know how the other person’s day is going.”
An important thing that you as a kid can do to help create this bridge with your parents is to make time for your family.
What both teachers said is good information because it shows that adults get stressed as well and that stress never goes away. Considering stress does not go away, it is important to take care of it and learn how to control it and make steps to getting better.
Stress can appear in two different ways such as good stress and bad stress. People can think that good stress can also be bad due to it still being stressful but it can actually be a good thing. Being stressed about events coming up, such as graduation or weddings or parties, is okay because good stress can give you a boost in your energy and in your mood. On the other hand, bad stress can get real bad, such as it being too intense or lasting a long time, which can cause a person to spiral into a bad place that can be hard to get out of. That is why it is good to take care of yourself when you notice you have been stressed out a lot over bad things going on.
As a kid, if your parents do not reach out to you about how you are feeling, it might be a good idea to reach out to them to create an emotional bond where they can help you. Parents may know a lot, but they can not read your mind and know how you are feeling all the time. That is why it is important to communicate with them. An important thing that you as a kid can do to help create this bridge with your parents is to make time for your family. Having family time is very important for opening a connection with your parents, such as playing games together, or doing work together, or even just watching tv together.
There are many different types of situations that can cause stress, and I will list a couple and why it is important to get help when you need it.
- Feeling pressure at work or school
- Worried about upcoming events
- Big changes in your life that can be negative
- Not doing enough with your life and feeling useless
- Not having control over a big situation
Not having anyone to talk to about what is going on in your life and feeling isolated can cause stress to affect you more and have a bigger impact. Regardless of being isolated or being with people, stress can be the devil and it can ruin your life if you do not take the time to help yourself. Reaching out is also an important factor because you do not have to go through it alone with having help available from parents, teachers, or professional help.
References to the research –
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