Teenage Stress: Adults Can and Must Help!

As adults we deal with stress on a daily basis. Not only do we have the need to take care of our family but we also have work, bills, insurance, health issues and financial worries. We seem to get so caught up in our own stressful situations, forgetting that our teens are human too and that stress can affect them at a devastating rate.

Studies have shown that a high percentage of teens complain of being "stressed-out" on a daily or weekly basis. Adults, parents, hear these complaints and think of them as just that, complaints. We cannot fathom the fact that our teens face stress everyday also.

Teens struggle to do as they are told, to maintain good grades, to look up to their elders, to be a good friend, to stay out of trouble and to be the perfect child. It isn't just their peers that push them into unimaginable bouts of stress and depression; it is also their parents.

It isn't easy being a teen in this century. They must make up for their past mistakes, choose correctly in their present state, and think ahead for their future affairs. Many teens become self-absorbed and forget who they are. They find themselves feeling alone, sad, and uneasy. Teens want to achieve but they have very little support from those who are the most important to them, those who are suppose to love them.

Teenage stress is growing tremendously and we, as adults, must take a stand against it. They are children and they need guidance. They should not have to deal with stress levels that are equal to those in adult life. So what can we do to ease the pain these adolescent children are experiencing?

One way to help teenagers cope with daily stressors is to listen to them intensively. We need to help them realize that life has its ups and downs and can be tough at times. But, we also must assure them that life is good and pure and eventful. What we need to stop doing is taking our pressures out on them. They do not need to know every little thing that stresses us because, if they do, they will begin absorbing those stresses even though they have no control over them.

Teens feel they must become adults early on. Maybe it is to help their family or maybe it is to deflect away from their family but either way, they do not need the extra pressures of adulthood thrown at them. We should take the time to listen and understand them. And, if we are not capable of doing this then we need to lead them in the direction of someone who can. Help may come in the form of a self-help group. Here they can learn about stress management, stress reducing techniques, health and nutrition, and exercise.

Help might also come in the form of friends. If your teenager has a hard time making friends then begin looking at outside activities such as youth camps and neighborhood sports events. Find a place for them to volunteer a few hours of their time or get them involved in an artistic or musical venture. Do what is needed to help them create a support group so they will never feel alone.

The teens of today are the adults of tomorrow. Do we really want to send them in to the realm of adulthood already afflicted with stress related illnesses? Don't we want them to be strong with the ability to conquer and survive? Teens have the right not to feel "stressed out" every day and the desire to feel good about themselves and the world around them. Let us do what we can to help them.