Stress is a natural part of every individual’s life. It is referred to as any change that may be positive or negative, external or internal to which every person should adapt. Stress doesn’t necessarily mean negative events in life, but some of the positive things also become a reason for stress. The factors that cause stress are known as stressors.
Adolescence is one of the most stressful phases in an individual’s life. In this phase the adolescent undergoes lot of changes including bodily & behavioural changes. When High levels of stress is experienced by a student regardless of her/his age it can affect their ability to perform well. It also leads to poor emotional, physical, and mental health. By understanding about common stressors, a parent can help in dealing with the negative in an adolescent’s life.
- Major Sources of Stress in Adolescents:-As students have to compete at every step of their career, you can witness that stress has a lot of impact on them. Each student experiences a unique cluster of stressful events. Few of the factors/sources that cause stress in adolescents are mentioned below:
- Personal Factors
- Change in Living Environment (Shifting from Home to hostel, Going to New College)
- Change in Sleeping Habits (Waking up early)
- Facing Financial issues
- Poor Eating Habits
- Health problems
- Unable to manage the Time
- Relationship with people
- Staying at hostel the kind of relation maintained with the roommate.
- Relation with family members is a main source which either increases the stress or reduces it.
- The kind of relation maintained with the Lecturers would be one of the major source of stress.
- Relationship with Others.
- Environmental Factors
- Living Conditions
- Worries about career/future
- Peer Pressure
- Increased access to technology
- Academic Factors
- Competitive exams create lot of stress
- Long study hours with less breaks
- Examinations
- Lower grades than peers leading to comparison.
- Lot of syllabus to be covered
- Effects of Stress in Adolescents:
There is a greater potential impact on the student’s mental health if exposed to numerous risk factors. Due to various reasons like people not being aware of the mental health or lack of knowledge, prevents them from not taking help. Stress is one of the major mental health issue among the students. Few of the effects of stress have been mentioned below:
- Effects of stress on student’s body-
There are various effects of stress on adolescent’s physical health. As the physical health is very important to sustain and perform well, the adolescent should be able to balance his level of stress. Few of the effects of stress on body are: Chest pain, Headache, Sleep problems, Fatigue, Muscle tension or pain, Stomach upset, Migraine.
- Effects of stress on student’s mood
Stress eventually affects the student mood if it exceeds the limit. If the level of stress increases, the student starts feeling anxious regarding his academics, relationships with people, Living condition etc. He becomes easily irritable and Restless, Lacks motivation, gets Depressed/sad or feels overwhelmed for little things.
- Effects of stress on student’s behaviour
There will be lot of behavioural changes observed in the adolescents due to stress. They will have sudden Anger outbursts, they either Overeat or under-eat. In some cases they develop unhealthy and harmful habits which is considered to be a temporary escape from the stressful situation. But, it later has a negative impact on them. Social withdrawal is one more behavioural change that can be observed.
- Ways to Deal with Stress
As mentioned before, adolescence is a crucial phase in an individual’s life. In this phase the adolescent should be making appropriate decisions for their future. During this process the student should be able to cope up with the stress which they are facing during any event. Few of the ways to effectively deal with the stress are:
- Breathing Exercise: Generally students feel anxious during examination which will lead to bad performance. Breathing exercise is very helpful for the students to calm down with in few minutes. This technique is easy and every student can practice it. Exercise also can help the students to reduce the stress like walking for a small distance whenever they find time.
- Planning: Planning is an important tool that can be put into practice by the students. If the students can prepare the syllabus by a proper planning it would help them to deal with the stress. It can reduce their burden and anxiousness regarding the examinations.
- Having food on time: One of the most important thing is to avoid eating junk as it seen commonly among the adolescents. Eating right food on time helps the student stay physically healthy. It can be easy for them to concentrate well in the lectures and memorize the information. It can alleviate the stress to the minimal level.
- Positive Self-talk: Being able to think positively and taking any situation sportively would help the student to deal with the stress effectively. By practicing Positive Self-Talk the student can create a sense of confidence with in self and it can help her/him to face the stressful situation.
- Maintaining good relations: By sharing the worries with people it could help the person to feel light. The same way if a student has good relations with people around her/him it can be helpful to share the issues that would make the student feel better.
- Daily Log: By maintaining a daily log it becomes easy for the student to plan things. It helps in understanding and having an idea of what task needs to done. This technique can help to reduce the stress.
Stress is very normal as every individual experiences it. It can be dealt easily if the person doesn’t react BUT instead responds to the situation. By practicing the techniques for dealing with stress, it can be easy for the students to cope up with it effectively. It is very important that the student shares the worries with someone they trust. In any case if the student needs some help of a professional, our helpline is provided below such that the student can contact us.
HELPLINE NUMBER: 18004191828
SARAYU GUJE
Development Coach