Teens and Stress

by Rachel Kenderdine

Every day after school, junior Nikki McMullen goes to work at her job at McDonald’s. After working any number of hours, she comes home to a day’s worth of homework, household chores, and a variety of other parts of life to juggle. Nikki is one of millions of teens dealing with the issue of stress in their lives.

According to lifespan.org, teen stress is caused by many factors, including school, peer pressure, body issues, family and friend problems, and extracurricular activities. Guidance counselor Mrs. Garzolini-Skelton agrees.

“I think peer pressure is a lot of it, I think parents, I think schoolwork, and a lot of time it’s just their family situations or family life,” she said.

Nikki McMullen, a junior at PCHS, says that stress in her life is caused by, “School, but not just school, the classes I take. Extracurricular activities can be stressful on top of school, and work for me is extracurricular.”

Stress can be bad for both the person affected and the people around them. On top of physical symptoms of stress, such as headache, stomachache, and loss of appetite, mental symptoms can also appear.

“Some turn to self-injuring, or a lot of time when people are stressed it causes them to act out, like getting into an argument or acting out in class, and they act out towards an innocent person who gets the brunt of it when really they’re stressed about other things,” Mrs. Garzolini-Skelton said.

Mrs. Garzolini-Skelton also said that teens under stress need to realize that they can find ways to relieve stress. “The most important thing that I feel like anyone can do is realize that sometimes things are out of their control. You can’t stress about other things that are out of your control. And to have someone to talk to. It’s important to know you have that option,” she said.

Nikki said that when stress gets to be too much, she finds a way to relieve it. “I definitely just remind myself to have fun, and do things I enjoy doing,” she said.

If stress does get to be too much in your life, find someone to talk to.