Stress Strategies

What is Stress?

Stress is a natural physiological responses part of the human experience. Stress may help us adjust to something new, like a new school, or help us react to a pressing need, like an upcoming test or a baseball hurtling toward us when we are up to bat. Here is a useful description of stress in teens from The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry:

When we perceive a situation as difficult or painful, changes occur in our minds and bodies to prepare us to respond to danger. This “fight, flight, or freeze” response includes faster heart and breathing rate, increased blood to muscles of arms and legs, cold or clammy hands and feet, upset stomach and/or a sense of dread.

The same mechanism that turns on the stress response can turn it off. As soon as we decide that a situation is no longer dangerous, changes can occur in our minds and bodies to help us relax and calm down. This “relaxation response” includes decreased heart and breathing rate and a sense of well-being. Teens that develop a “relaxation response” and other stress management skills feel less helpless and have more choices when responding to stress.

Signs of Stress 

Strategies to Manage Stress

Sleep. Sleep may feel like the last thing you have time for when you are stressed, but it is vital to stress management and reduction. Visit our Sleep page to read more about how to develop and successfully implement good sleep habits. 

Exercise. Find any physical activity you enjoy, then do it regularly. Aim for at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity.  From walking or running, to yoga or soccer, physical movement offers multiple stress-relieving benefits. 

Talk or write about your feelings. Voicing our feelings through a conversation with a friend, parent, teacher, or counselor calms our nervous system and reduces stress. The same thing happens when we spend time journaling about how we feel. 

Make time for fun—and quiet. Try doing something just because you love it. When was the last time you baked your favorite cookies, played your favorite board game, or laid in the grass in the sunshine? Making a little bit of time to do nothing or something that won't be "productive" can relieve your stress. Consider your "fun magnets", remember three or four times you had real moments of fun. Try scheduling a time to do these things!

Hobbies. Do you play the piano? Paint? Bake? Dance? Try making time to do these things purely for enjoyment each week. 

Go outside. Being present in the outdoors positively impacts our body and regulates stress. 

Try mindfulness.  Utilize some guided mindfulness videos in our stress strategies library. 

Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers

Look for signs of stress. When you notice your student or teen is feeling stressed, ask them about it. 

"Lately I've noticed ____, what is feeling stressful lately?"

Encourage ongoing conversations. Ongoing conversations about stress normalize this human experience and may reduce feelings of isolation. 

Promote healthy habits to improve overall wellbeing. Ask how you can support their overall wellbeing and offer to do what you can. Organize daily walks, cook a nutritious dinner, and place boundaries around bedtime to ensure your teen is getting plenty of sleep. 

Seek help from professionals. If your teen's stress seems unmanageable, rely on professional support. Talk with your teen's primary care provider or reach out to their school's wellness center to schedule an appointment. We are here to support you! 

Stress Management Resource Library

Stress Management Resource Library

Scroll through our stress management resource library for videos featuring information on stress and how to manage it. Refer to our Anxiety  page for more resources like this.