Some teen stress is beneficial because it pushes them to study or practice an instrument when they would rather be spending their time with friends. However, if your teen is experiencing chronic stress, that’s a different story. There are positive ways to help regarding how to relieve stress and anxiety in teens.
If adults don’t intervene, long-term stress in teens could contribute to a lengthy list of mental and psychological problems. When teens experience prolonged stress, that could potentially lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and a weakened immune system. To help your teen, contact our adolescent treatment center today.
Understanding the Signs of Stress and Anxiety
Learning how to relieve stress and anxiety in teens involves understanding the signs. Stress and anxiety can present themselves in teens in many ways, including these examples:
- Behavioral changes: Teens sometimes have a difficult time using words to describe their feelings and, as a result, that tension creates moodiness. Teens experiencing stress and anxiety might be more argumentative or have a shorter temper than usual
- Changes in eating: When a teen eats too little or too much, those could both be reactions to experiencing high levels of stress
- Difficulties sleeping: If your teen complains about feeling tired all the time if they’re sleeping more than usual, or they have trouble feeling asleep every night, those could be signs of anxiety and stress
- Gets sick frequently: Teens who are experiencing stress might also show physical symptoms. These symptoms include having frequent headaches or stomachaches
- Neglects responsibilities: If teens stop doing their homework, starts procrastinating, or forgets obligations, that could indicate they’re experiencing anxiety and stress
If these symptoms get out of hand, a residential mental health treatment center is essential.
Why Do Teens Need Stress and Anxiety Relief?
Some teens seem carefree, while others can become overloaded by stress frequently. If you notice that your teen experiences high levels of stress and anxiety, that could lead to physical illness or developing poor coping skills. As a result, they could turn to the use of substances as a way of coping. This mechanism means that they need an adolescent treatment center for dual diagnosis treatment. In addition to the stress and anxiety they’re already feeling, those substances could have other unhealthy side effects, so treatment is essential. At the moment, teens might believe they’re experiencing relief. Still, those substances could lead to developing an addiction or suffering from withdrawals.
Tips for How to Relieve Stress and Anxiety in Teens
Once you learn more about the potential signs and symptoms, it’s much easier to determine how to relieve stress and anxiety in teens. Here are some strategies to consider:
- Create balance: Teens must have time for fun, as well as quiet downtime. Some teens love bouncing from one activity they love to another. Other teens need additional downtime. Therefore, they need to learn how to create a balance
- Exercise: People of all ages, including teens, benefit from physical activity as a way of relieving stress
- Go outside: When teens go out and enjoy nature, that is an effective way of relieving stress and improving their overall well-being
- Talk more: The more teens talk about the stressful situations they’re experiencing to someone who understands, the more relief they’ll experience
- Write it out: According to a paper published in JMIR Mental Health, journaling is a beneficial way of reducing stress and anxiety
Final Thoughts
Do you have concerns that are leading you to want to learn more about how to relieve stress and anxiety in teens? Is your teen showing signs of experiencing high levels of stress? No one should have to go through these challenging times without the best support. Now is the time to contact us at 866.300.5275 to receive answers to your questions and learn how we can provide solutions.
