“Doing something that is productive is a great way to alleviate emotional stress. Get your mind doing something that is productive.” – Ziggy Marley
Most of the youth suffer from stress silently. What most of them lack is a platform to create awareness for stress management. Self-awareness is the first step in laying a foundation for what you want to master in life. It enables you to discover where your emotions and thoughts are taking you. It allows you to control your behaviour, emotions, and personality, enabling you to make the changes you want. In this article, we will discuss how to create awareness for stress management among the youth.
Source Of Stress Among Youth
There are many sources of stress among youth, including:
• Career: Stress among the youth has close relations to the career one is pursuing. Job-related stress adversely affects many of the youth today. Lack of job security, pressure to be the best performing worker by meeting deadlines, pressure from your boss or an intolerable work colleague are some of the major causes of job-related stress. Many youths also fall into the fear of getting a job amid the stiff competition in the market.
• Time management: Youth in college struggle balancing home life, peer activities, part-time jobs, and academics. At the end of the day, one feels stressed up.
• Financial pressure: All youth get stressed due to financial stability. The majority of the youth are jobless or are at jobs that do not pay as well as they would like. Most would like to have enough money to sustain the lifestyle they want. They want the best designer clothes, the best phones, cars, etc. Being financially unstable causes a lot of stress among youths.
• Relationships Problems: Young people may experience stress in their relationships, whether it’s with friends, romantic partners, or family members.
• Academics: Many youths get stressed out worrying about how they perform in their academics. Most get stress symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, loss of appetite, and many more. The fear of examinations and increased academic workload causes stress among many youths in learning institutions. Assignment-related pressure also causes stress among the youth.
• Health Concerns: Health concerns, such as chronic illnesses or mental health issues, can be a significant source of stress for young people.
• Family conflict: Family conflict, such as divorce or tension between family members, can be a significant source of stress for young people.
• Procrastination: Procrastination is a common source of stress among youth. It refers to the act of delaying or putting off tasks that need to be done, often until the last minute. Procrastination can cause anxiety, frustration, and poor academic performance.
These are the most common causes of stress among the youth.
How To Recognize Stress Among Youth?
Some of the signs of stress in a youthful person include the following;
• If you find out a youthful person is spending a lot of time on the weekend studying rather than being out with friends.
• If someone’s eating habits suddenly change
• If they aren’t themselves
• If they are avoiding going to school
• If they are having problems with concentration
• If they are feeling irritable about those around them or themselves
• If a person is claiming to be tired all the time
• If one seems down or panicky, disengaged or fatigued
• If one is having trouble sleeping
These are the common signs of a youthful person under stress.
5 Simple Techniques to Help Youth Manage Stress
Every youthful person would like to know the secrets of managing stress. Discussed below are some of the most effective methods-
• Eat a healthy diet: Eating healthy food can sup you of mental energy and boost the power of your brain as well. In addition, it can be an effective method to manage stress because it keeps off diet-related mood changes, slight headaches, and many more.
• Listen to music: Listening to the music you like will boost your moods and effectively reduce your stress levels.
• Try practising progressive muscle relaxation: This technique involves relaxing and tensing all your muscles to a point where the entire body feels completely relaxed. With continued practice, one can learn how to relieve stress in a few seconds.
• Take calming breaths: in the instances where your body is experiencing a stress response, you find yourself not thinking clearly as you would like to. An effective way of calming yourself down is by practising calming breaths. They help in relieving stress within a short time.
• Regular exercises: One of the most effective and healthiest ways to blow off steam and relieve yourself from stress. You can try running, biking, walking, or morning yoga. Exercising is an effective method of managing and reducing stress.
• Get sufficient sleep: many youths have tight schedules and, in most cases, fail to sleep well. If you remain in a sleep-deprived state, you result in less productive, resulting in stress. Getting enough sleep is a good way of managing stress.
How Can Parents Help Their Kids?
Parents can help their kids with time management skills that will help them plan better. They can also encourage them to believe in themselves. Make them feel loved and appreciated regardless of how well they carry out themselves. Parents should also make their kids know the dangers associated with drug abuse. These are some of the things a parent can do to help their kid manage and overcome stress.
When Should You Seek Help from A Counsellor?
As a youth, you should know that seeking help isn’t a sign of weakness. It is an important step in the path of self-care. Here are the signs that indicate you need help from a counsellor.
• If you find it hard to regulate your emotions, you need to see a counsellor immediately if stress is making you lose your temper and have uncontrolled anger. Likewise, if you are constantly crying, traumatized, having suicidal thoughts, you should seek help from a counsellor.
• If your appetite suddenly changes or you are experiencing sleep disorders, you should seek help from a counsellor.
• If you are in college and suddenly your grades drop due to stress, you should see a counsellor.
• If you are struggling to build healthy relationships and maintain them, you need a counsellor’s help.
• If you begin hating what you loved doing, for instance, your hobbies, you should seek help from your counsellor.
• If you are grieving because of the loss of a loved one, a break-up, or a divorce, you need a counsellor to help you handle the massive emotional burden.
• If stress has compromised your physical health, seek help from a counsellor.
These are some indicators that you are suffering from deep stress, and you need the help of a counsellor immediately.
Conclusion
In conclusion, creating awareness for stress management among youth is crucial to helping them lead a healthy and fulfilling life. By providing them with education, workshops, online resources, support groups, and role models, we can empower youth to manage their stress effectively and lead a happy and healthy life.
Visit our blog to know how to reduce stress:
22 Different Techniques to Reduce Your Stress – Insightful Counselling
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