Teen stress can be a powerful force in a young person’s life. It can be caused by school work, home life, social pressure, and the general flux of hormones and growth they undergo at this time. Stress is a very normal part of a teen’s life, and there is no way to completely avoid it. But how teen stress is managed is what’s important.
There are healthy ways to cope with teen stress like listening to music, playing sports or even watching TV. But often in order to deal with the mounting stress, teens turn to drugs or alcohol to cope. Not only does this put their imminent health and safety at risk, but it puts them at risk for developing dependencies to drugs or alcohol later in life.
According to The National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, teens under high levels of stress were twice as likely as low stress teens to drink, smoke, use illegal drugs and get drunk. This then becomes a vicious cycle as alcohol and drug use further perpetuate the high levels of stress.
The important thing to remember is that teen stress is unavoidable, but you can keep an eye out for times that might be more stressful than others and help a teen adequately cope with that stress through healthy practices.
According to MentalHealthScreening.org, some sources of teen stress to look our for include:
- school demands and frustrations
- negative thoughts and feelings about themselves
- changes in their bodies
- problems with friends and/or peers at school
- unsafe living environment/neighborhood
- separation or divorce of parents
- chronic illness or severe problems in the family
- death of a loved one
- moving or changing schools
- taking on too many activities or having too high expectations
- family financial problems
When teen stress is not properly managed, you might notice in your teen an increase in anxiety, withdrawal, aggression, physical illness or signs of drug or alcohol use. Reach out to a professional to help you and your teen develop healthy coping skills.
