Regrettably, everyone, of all age groups, is subject to stress. It has doubtless always been like that, but most people would accede that life has become more stressful for everyone since the Seventies, including for teenagers and even children. It is something that we should all bear in mind when dealing with irregular behaviour from teenagers and children.
Stress outs itself in different ways, but the same way in adults and teenagers and children, although most adults are better able to deal with stress. It is essential to be able to recognize the manifestations of stress in teenagers and children and how to cope with it.
Teenagers are in a exceptionally susceptible group. They are mid-way between being dependent children and independent adults and the transition can be tricky, which means stressful.
In the West, approximately 20% of the population are teenagers. Do not forget that teenagers are going through immense psychological, physical, emotional and hormonal changes. Some deal with these changes better than others, but hardly any teenager understands why they are considered difficult.
There is so much going on in their lives that is new. In other words, they are under stress. That is not an excuse, we have all been through it and stress is not a carte blanche to behave like an idiot.
Sexual consciousness is a big stress factor that many teenagers do not how to deal with because they have never been through it before. This makes teenage girls very vulnerable to older boys who may target them for sexual favours.
Teenage girls are often proud of their growing breasts as a sign of their initiation into womanhood, but it does not mean that they know how to cope with the stares of older men and the advances of older boys.
The compensating element here is that more girls will ask advice than boys. Boys tend not to ask advice, afraid that they will show themselves up. Dealing with family members can be helpful, although they may be cause of the stress in the first place.
As in all cases of stress for all age groups, it is important to work out what the cause of the stress is, because this can determine how you will cope with it. Sometimes, parents expect too much of their children, which will stress their teenagers out a lot. Therefore, the best method to help teenagers to get over their stress is to get them to talk about it.
Teenage stress management is a very important issue and many teenagers cannot cope with large amounts of stress on their own. As a parent, you could check that they are not eating too much junk food and encourage them to be active in sport.
You can also be as supportive as possible when your teenager seems to go off the rails for no apparent reason without asking too many snooping questions, yet listening to what they tell you. Listening is the best way of helping someone manifest their feelings, nosiness puts people off.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics , but is currently involved with the stress headache. If you are suffering from any kind of stress, please go over to our website now at Stress and Heart Disease