Stress and Anxiety
Everyone, from the youngest child to the oldest adult, experiences some stress and anxieties and fears at one time or another. Much like fear – stress and anxiety is an uncomfortable feeling that we have when we are faced with difficult situations. Sometimes those situations are real, like a sports match or an exam. Sometimes we create those situations in our mind, like worrying about things that could happen in future. Dealing with stress and anxieties can prepare young people to handle the unsettling experiences and challenging situations of life.
Physical symptoms can include:
While everyone experiences stress and anxiety differently, there are some common signs and symptoms of anxiety:
- a racing heart
- faster breathing
- feeling tense or having aches – especially neck, shoulders and back
- sweating or feeling dizzy
- shaking
- ‘butterflies’ or feeling sick in the stomach.
Talk to someone you trust if you feel your anxieties or worries are making you feel:
- worried about things a lot of the time
- unable to control the worries
- unable to relax
- start to avoid places or people, like school or parties
- spend less time with friends and family
- have trouble concentrating and paying attention
- feel annoyed, irritated or restless
- have difficulty getting to sleep at night and waking lots during the night.
Ways to beat stress and anxiety
- Physical activities can have a positive effect on your mental well being. Scunthorpe has Get Going who offer a fantastic service to help young people to have a healthy lifestyle.
- Food affects mood – eat regularly and have a varied diet, for more information How food can affect my Mood
- Being anxious at bed time can stop you from sleeping – Coping with sleep problems
- Have a worry book or write your worries down on pieces of paper and put them in an envelope or jar.
- Be kind to yourself
- Relax – try mindfulness
- Do something fun
- Breathing exercises can help you feel more in control
- Childline – Managing your Anxiety
- Young Minds
- MIND
- Samaritans
Stress
Exam stress
Tests and exams can be a challenging part of school life for children, young people and their parents or carers. One of the reasons exams can be stressful is we cannot totally control the outcome. There is always a worry that we might not be able to do what we are hoping to do.
The good news is that a little bit of stress can be helpful. However, it is important to recognise this stress and ensure that it is kept in proportion. Most people experience pressure, stress and anxiety when it comes to exams, and people deal with it in very different ways.
- Lack of concentration or difficulty in remembering
- Problems with sleeping
- Feeling irritable and annoyed
- You are more likely to catch a cold or feel generally unwell
- High levels of stress can lead to anxiety and depression
- Feelings of worry and anxiety can increase
Having someone to talk to about school work can help. Support from a parent, tutor or study buddy can help young people share their worries and keep things in perspective.
- A balanced diet is vital for your child’s health, and can help them to feel well during exam periods
- Good sleep will improve thinking and concentration
- Be flexible around exam time
- Make sure your child has somewhere comfortable to study.
- Consider who can support you with revision
- Exercise can help boost energy levels, clear the mind and relieve stress
- It’s okay to talk about exam nerves
If your child’s anxiety or low mood is severe, persists and interferes with their everyday life, it’s a good idea to get some help. A visit to your GP is a good place to start.
Feelings
Get in touch with your anger.
Anger is not right or wrong; it’s just a feeling, like happiness or sadness. Everyone has times when they feel angry, and often with good reasons.
Anger is an emotion that can have a physical effect on your body. Your hormones go haywire, your heart beats faster, you can feel sick, lightheaded, and feel tension in your muscles.
Anger is one of a range of emotions that we all experience. Sometimes, though, you can feel angry and not know why. It’s important to be able to deal with anger so you don’t lose your temper and make things worse.
Anger is an issue if you are:
- Hitting or physically hurting other people
- Shouting at people
- Breaking things
- Losing control
- Winding people up
- Spending time with people who get you into trouble
Body Image
There can be a lot of pressure to look a certain way and fit in with everyone else. Sometimes you can be hurt or affected by what others think and say.
You might be feeling unhappy about your hair, skin colour or your weight or embarrassed about wearing glasses or braces. It can be hard to accept how you look if you feel pressure to have perfect skin or a certain type of body shape.
Your confidence can improve by not comparing yourself to people you see in films, music videos and magazines. Remember that these images aren’t real and no one is perfect. Feeling happy about how you look can help you to feel confident. It’s normal to worry about the way you look sometimes. Especially as you grow and go through puberty.
5 things to help you feel better
- Everyone’s different so don’t compare yourself to other people.
- Ignore any negative or mean comments from other people.
- Write down 3 things you like about yourself and read it every morning.
- Share your thoughts with other young people on our message boards and read their comments.
- Focus on hobbies you enjoy or things you are good at – this can help build your confidence.
Bullying
Bullying can happen anywhere, like online, at home or at school. And it can happen to anyone. But nobody has the right to hurt you or make you feel bad.
Bullying can also be part of other forms of abuse, including neglect, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
- Bullying can mean different things:
- being called names
- being teased, put down or humiliated
- being pushed or pulled about
- having money and other stuff taken
- having rumors spread about you
- being ignored and left out
- being hit, kicked or physically hurt
- being threatened or intimidated
- being bullied through your phone or online.
Nobody has the right to bully you, bullying could be done by friends, family, people at school and strangers – but it’s never OK. Bullying can happen in different places – like at school, home or online, there are ways to get it stopped and ways to feel better about yourself.
Self Harm
Self harm is an expression of personal distress, usually in private, by an individual who hurts him/herself. Self harm includes self injury such as cutting, stabbing, jumping from heights, self poisoning for example: overdosing, poisoning and can also include smoking, tattooing, alcohol and drugs and any risk taking behaviour.
Many people self-harm to ‘get out the hurt, anger and pain’, this can be due to pressures in their lives and unaware of what else to do, feeling like they have no other options. However, there is no fixed rule as to why people do self-harm. People find it as an alternative to express something hard to put into words, to change emotional pain into physical, to have a sense of being in control, escape traumatic memories or to punish themselves for feelings and experiences.
The important thing to recognise is self-harming carries risks and it is important you know these risks & try keep it as safe as possible to minimise harm. The most important thing to do is to control bleeding and prevent infection, covering the wound with a clean dressing, using clean equipment and recognising when further help is required..