Causes of Teenage Stress
According to dictionary.com, stress is defined as “importance attached to a thing.” As teenagers, we are constantly bombarded with homework, college, and the future, and it can become very stressful. Stress has a lot of causes and effects on teenagers, and sometimes it can get a little overwhelming. As a teenager myself, I have found that sometimes when I get too stressed, I get flustered. Like other teenagers, I would like to know what causes so much stress, how it affects me, and how I can prevent it.
There are many ways students can become stressed. One reason could be upcoming tests. “In stressful situations, such as before and during an exam, the body releases a hormone called adrenaline.” says VeryWellMind December 2018, “This helps prepare the body to deal with what is about to happen and is commonly referred to as the ‘fight-or-flight’ response.” students worry about good grades and making time to study. Stressing over tests affects all kinds of students, not just struggling students.
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Another reason teenagers can become stressed is speaking in class. A lot of students have something called stage fright. Some assignments in high school require you to present something to the class, read out of a book, or even get called on in class. Jerry Seinfeld, a stand-up comedian, and actor, once said, “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
The Overwhelming Impact of Stress
Homework can be the number one cause of student stress. Stanford University conducted research in 2013 that found that “students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance in their lives, and alienation from society.” Students are found doing hours of homework a night, making no time for them to be social with other students. More than seventy percent of students said that they were stressed over homework. Less than one percent of students said homework was not a stressor.
Mental and Physical Consequences of Stress
Stress can affect us mentally and physically. While some stress is good for you, our bodies are not supposed to handle stress in large quantities, only in small safe quantities. According to The American Institute of Stress, eight out of ten students say they sometimes experienced stress in their daily lives over the past three months. This is an increase of 20% from a survey five years ago.
There are a lot of physical effects to stress. According to Mayo Clinic, stress can lead to chronic conditions like asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and even diabetes. The most common effects of stress on the body are headaches, muscle tension or pain, chest pain, fatigue, upset stomach, and sleeping problems.
There might be a lot of effects on your body, but there are even more effects on your mental health. According to MentalHelp.net, stress can cause depression. Byproducts of stress hormones can be similar to sedatives, chemical substances which make us become calm or even tired. When these hormone byproducts occur in large quantities, they may contribute to a feeling of low energy or depression. Students may come to school every day with a different mood. Usually, stress is the cause of this. Kids may be frustrated in class, or maybe they aren’t paying attention simply because they are worrying about the next hour’s test or how they didn’t turn a paper in on time.
Stress can also cause anxiety. Chronic Activation of stress hormones can contribute to large feelings of anxiety like a racing heartbeat, nausea, sweaty palms, feeling helpless, and sensing upcoming doom. Thinking patterns that lead to stress can also leave people vulnerable to intense anxiety feelings. This can make students not want to talk one-on-one with a teacher, not talk to other students, and even not want to raise their hands to answer questions.
Dangers of Stress on the Road
Stress can also alter the operation and structure of some aspects of the nervous system. Stress hormones may decrease the functioning of brain cells in a section of the brain that is called the hippocampus, a part of the brain that is important for long-term memories, and in the frontal lobes, the part of the brain that makes us pay attention and filter out irrelevant things. Therefore, people who are stressed may experience confusion, difficulty concentrating, trouble learning new information, and problems with decision-making. This can cause students to wander off during class and not absorb any new information.
Stress can also affect personality. Some people experience personality changes because of stress hormones, which are part of their internal environment. People who are stressed can become irritable, hostile, frustrated, aggressive, angry, and many other things. Because of this, students can become someone they don’t want to be. Snapping at their friends for no reason, talking back to teachers, and even causing problems with other students.
According to business insider, there are eight steps to reduce stress. One, Become aware of your stressors. Two, Learn to quickly reverse your stress response. Three, Take care of your body; four, Get into the right frame of mind. Five, Cut down on stressors with systems and better time management, six, Avoid toxic people. Seven, Put positive psychology into action, and eight, Practice long-term resilience-forming habits.
The causes of stress, like homework, public speaking, and upcoming tests, can be hard on students. Most teenagers who have depression, anxiety, and personality changes are because of stress. Even though we feel like we can’t ever get rid of stress, there is always a way to get through it. Teens may feel overwhelmed with stress, but if teens are taught how to control their stress, they might feel better.
Works Cited
- Cherry, Kendra. “What Causes Test Anxiety and Academic Stress.” Verywell Mind, Dotdash.
“A Quote by Jerry Seinfeld.” Goodreads, Goodreads, “How Stress Affects Your Body and Behavior.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 28 Apr 2016.
- Levy, Sandra. “Why Homework Is Bad: Stress and Consequences.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 11 Apr. 2017.
- Mills, Harry, et al. “Mental And Emotional Impact Of Stress.” Mental Help Early Childhood Cognitive Development Language Development Comments,
MENTALHELP.NET.
- Benna, Steven. ‘ 8 steps to reduce your stress – Business Insider.’ Business Insider.
Is Global Warming Truly Man-Made: Unveiling The Truth
The Growing Impact of Global Warming
In recent years, the phenomenon of global warming has become more and more obvious. The main cause of global warming is that humans have used fossil fuels in the past century and emitted a large number of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, which cause global warming. There are abnormalities in the climate around the country, including the dissolution of bipolar glaciers and rising sea levels.
Our Collective Responsibility
Some argue that individual efforts are insufficient, but it’s crucial to acknowledge that everyone has a role in protecting our Earth. While some say that making changes is too burdensome, simple acts like turning off lights when leaving a room can make a difference. People may claim that meat is an essential part of their diet, but it’s healthier to consume vegetables. Some think that as global temperatures rise, areas closer to the poles will become habitable for humans. However, the melting glaciers and rising sea levels will threaten the habitats of polar bears, potentially leading to their extinction.
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Global warming happened by human activities, and there are many impacts of global warming. Most climate scientists agreed that human expansion of the ‘greenhouse effect’ seemed to be the prime reason for the current global warming (Shankman & Horn, 2017). According to National Geographic (n.d.), global temperature increases include changes in sea level and rainfall and snowfall in terms of volume and pattern. These changes may prompt severe weather events to be stronger and more frequent, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Many species have been impacted by rising temperatures. For example, researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie penguins in Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years. The sea level has been rising more quickly over the previous century. Hurricanes will become more intense, and as the climate continues to warm, hurricane-related storm intensity and rainfall rates are expected to increase. Temperatures will continue to rise, and as the warming caused by humans is superimposed on the naturally changing climate, the rise in temperature throughout the country or over time is not uniform or stable (NASA, n.d.). Human beings are the prime cause of global warming, and global warming has many negative effects on people.
Taking Steps to Reduce Carbon Emissions
People should reduce carbon emissions in their daily life. For example, reducing water waste is one method. Saving water can also reduce carbon pollution. That’s because pumping, heating, and treating water requires a lot of energy. Therefore, try to take a shorter shower. Another method is to unplug. The outlet in your home may power approximately 65 different devices, while other electronic devices consume energy even when not charging. Eating more vegetables instead of eating meat. Consume less meat, especially beef. Food accounts for a significant part of our emissions. If you want to cut here, your best bet is to reduce your meat consumption, especially beef. This is because one pound of beef emits 18 times more than a pound of pasta. A family of four decided to cut meat intake by half and reduce emissions by about 3 tons per year (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2013). According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (2017), the US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that if only one in every 100 US households uses water-saving devices to renovate, it will save about 100 million kWh of electricity per year – avoiding 80,000 tons of global warming pollution. The “idle load” of all American households adds up to the output of 50 large power plants in the United States. So, people do not plug a fully charged device into a socket in their home and unplug a device that they rarely use. Reducing carbon emissions can slow global warming, and people can start to reduce carbon emissions from their daily life.
The Benefits of Protecting Our Earth
People can enjoy a healthy living environment if they can protect the Earth. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming. Reduce waste of resources and increase opportunities for next-generation use of resources. Establish a healthful, comfortable, and safe living environment. Increase the life of the Earth and people. Otherwise, by 2100, sea levels will increase by 1 to 4 feet. This is due to the increased amount of water that melts the land ice and seawater as it warms. In the next few decades, storm surges and climax may be combined with sea level rise and land subsidence, further increasing flooding in many areas. If we do not pay attention to the problem of global warming, the global temperature will continue to rise, accelerating the melting of glaciers, leading to sea level rise, and finally, may inundate some low-lying countries (NASA, n.d.). Reducing carbon emissions and slowing global warming not merely protects the planet but is also beneficial to human development.
The Urgency to Act Now
People should pay more attention to the issue of global warming and reduce carbon emissions from now on. Global warming will cause glaciers to melt, sea level rise, flooding countries in low-lying areas, rising temperatures, and getting worse and worse. If people reduce carbon emissions from now on, they can slow down the problem of global warming and minimize the impact of global warming on them. People should reduce water waste, consume less meat, unplug the outlet and turn off lights when they leave, etc. They should complete these from now on to save the planet.
Works Cited
- Watts, J. (2018). Arctic’s strongest sea ice breaks up for first time on record. The Guardian.
- Shankman, S. & Horn, M. (2017). Global Warming 101. Inside Climate News.
- Ebbinghaus, H. (1964). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. New York: Dover.
- Union of Concerned Scientists. (2013). The Climate Benefits of Cutting Beef Consumption.
