Short messages on Mental health, stress and anxiety issues from Respect Yourself, the guidance site for young people to help make good decisions in life.
Try a new hobby, something that you’ve always wanted to try or something that you know you love but haven’t made the time for. Create a vision board and paste images of everything that speaks to you. Use this to help you identify your interests and passions.
Shopping, food, and alcohol aren’t a problem on their own in moderation, but when any of them become your primary coping strategy against emotional pain, it can lead to more stress than relief.
In family meetings, avoid being sarcastic and making personal comments. Be honest and try using “I feel” comments: “when you keep telling me I need to get good results to get into college, I feel really stressed and overwhelmed”.
If you need to have a family meeting, try and find a time when no one is angry, upset, stressed or tired. Find somewhere you can sit without being interrupted by the phone, TV or other people. Be willing to compromise and have a number of options you’re willing to accept.
Everyone gets overwhelmed from time to time, but prevention is the key. Think about what things need to be in place on a regular basis for you to perform at your best. Think about what works for you.
When stress is high, it’s important to know what makes you feel calm and relaxed. Otherwise it’s easy to turn to unhelpful coping strategies. What calms you when stressors are high? Take a moment to reflect so you’re ready when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
With family conflict, sitting down and talking about the situation may seem stressful. It could ease the situation if they see you are being ‘mature’ and taking the first step. It can also be a great way of sorting through issues and coming to an arrangement that works for all of you.
Your parents or guardians might be worried and stressed about things unrelated to you such as work, relationships or money that can affect how they talk and act with you. They can also feel pressure from expectations from their own parents, family and their community about “being a good parent”.
If your parents, guardians or relatives have grown up in another country they might have very different values and cultural expectations than people in this country. For example, your parents might insist on you speaking their native (non-English) language.
You might feel pressure or high expectations from your family about your friends, career/job choice, exams and school, chores, or even your hairstyle, the clothes you wear, or the music you listen to.