Prolonged exposure to stress or toxic stress can disrupt your body's normal functioning. It can cause us to feel upset, tired, unable to concentrate, angry, sad, cause us headaches and even lower our immune system. Over time this can also lead to issues related to anxiety and depression.

Click on the interactive image below to learn more how toxic stress can impact our body!

*Always check with your doctor if you are experiencing any of these symptoms as they may be signs of a more serious health condition.

Or if you have 3 minutes and 52 seconds to spare, watch the informative video below to learn more about your body’s stress response.

What Are Some Things That Can Cause You Stress?

Middle school-aged persons:

Some of the common sources of stress includes:

The pressure to succeed in school and/or sports.
Family instability or changes.
Bullying.
Scary or upsetting events on the news.
Popularity.
Overly-busy schedule.

Click on the interactive image below to learn more about each of these stressors.

High School-aged individuals:

Some of the common sources of stress includes:

School demands and frustrations- the demand to do well in school and/or sports.
Digital stress caused by negative interactions in social media, text, emails and forums.
College planning, preparation and applications.Maybe even just thinking about the future.
Negative thoughts or feelings about themselves- often brought on by societal and peer pressure to look, dress or act a certain way.
Changes in their bodies, going through puberty.
Problems with friends and/or peers at school.
Unsafe living environment/neighborhood.
Separation or divorce of parents.
Chronic illness or severe problems in the family, including stressors brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Death of a loved one.
Moving or changing schools.
Taking on too many activities or having too high expectations.
Family financial problems.

As children get older, their source of stress expands. Teens are more likely than young children to be affected by events or situations outside the home. In a study done by the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2018, young people ages 15-21 (aka Gen Z) report significant stress around social issues in the news including gun violence and school shootings, rising suicide rates, climate change, treatment of immigrants and sexual harassment.

In the same report, Gen Z were least likely to say that their mental health is “Excellent” or “Very Good”, however, they are the most likely to report receiving help from a psychologist or mental health professional. On one hand, this data suggests that younger generations are more attuned to their mental health and are less afraid to seek out support. This might signal a change in attitudes and openness regarding mental health, but we know that our work isn’t done yet. Empowering and teaching every student the importance of mental health hygiene from identifying stressors and its impact to practicing healthy coping skills is important work.

PAUSE to Process:

What are some sources of stress in your life?

What are some of the first things you notice in your body when you get stressed out?

What are some of the things that you currently do when you are stressed?

In the previous sections, we learned about some of the ways that our bodies might react to feeling stress. Sometimes stress can also change our behavior, like our eating and sleeping habits may begin to look different. We might procrastinate our work or even distance ourselves from our friends and family. Some people may even cope with stress in ways that are not healthy or good for us, like using alcohol, smoking, fighting, isolating ourselves and other unhealthy behaviors. There is a way that we can help ourselves avoid these behaviors.

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