Boston Children's fit kit Stress

Everybody feels stressed sometimes. Stress is the feeling you can get when things are hard, overwhelming, or scary — like when you have a big test coming up, or you have a lot of responsibilities to handle at once. Although it’s an emotional response to a difficult situation, stress often comes with physical symptoms, such as:

• Faster heartbeat
• Upset stomach
• Tight or stiff jaw
• Headache

Most people think of stress as bad, but some stress is natural and can even be helpful. Small doses of stress — such as taking a test, preparing for a big game, or meeting somebody you want to impress — can make you more alert, boost your memory, or motivate you to work hard. But too much stress, especially for a long time, can hurt your health.

The American Psychological Association did a survey to learn how stressed teens feel during the school year. They asked teens to rate their stress on a scale from 1 to 10. The average was almost 6 — higher than what is considered healthy. In fact, one out of every four teens said their stress was as high as 8, 9, or even 10. The biggest reason? School.

School stress can come from hard classes, problems with friends, bullying, or other struggles.

This survey happened before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, stress for kids and teens has gone up even more.

That’s why it’s important to understand what stress is — and find healthy ways to deal with it.

Long-term stress causes chemical changes in your body that can harm your health. While you can’t see what’s going on inside your body, there are some things you might notice about yourself when times are tough. You may feel:

Many kids experience physical symptoms when they’re stressed as well — such as stomachaches, headaches, or tense muscles.

Stress can even affect your behavior in ways that are not good. When you feel stressed, you may: 

• Not be able to get schoolwork done on time. You put it off because you just can’t concentrate
• Eat so-called “comfort” foods, like cookies or chips, that you think will make you feel happier. Eating these foods leads to release of “anti-stress chemicals,” such as endorphins. But any comfort is temporary, and the health consequences last much longer. Also, most comfort foods are high-glycemic foods that cause a blood-sugar roller coaster.
• Skip meals because you don’t feel like eating, which leaves you low on energy
• Skip exercise because you feel overwhelmed or too tired
• Engage in negative self-talk (for example, telling yourself that you can’t do anything right)
• Try to distract yourself from your worries by watching television, surfing the web, or using social media
• Have trouble sleeping at night, and then feel tired the next day
• Cry easily, talk back to an adult, or act out (tantrums for younger kids or risky behaviors for teens, like smoking or vaping)

If you notice these signs in yourself or a friend, talk to a trusted adult.

When something feels scary or dangerous, your body has a built-in stress response system.

First, your adrenal glands release a stress hormone, called adrenaline, to help you react quickly.  Adrenaline:

• Speeds up your breathing
• Makes your heart beat faster
• Raises your blood pressure

This short-term response has benefits — for example, helping you to quickly run away from danger or solve a problem. But too much adrenaline can have unwanted effects, such as increased blood pressure.

Next, the H-P-A axis — short for hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis — controls levels of another stress hormone, called cortisol.

Cortisol helps with:

• Managing blood sugar
• Controlling blood pressure
• Reducing inflammation

Cortisol is important for health, but too much for too long can increase belly fat, interfere with metabolism (such as the way your body converts calories from food into energy), and lead to other problems, such as:

• Low energy
• Trouble focusing
• Mood swings
• Frequent sickness

That’s why it’s important to find healthy ways to manage everyday stress — so your body does not stay on high alert for too long.

Seek help from a mental health professional if you notice warning signs of depression or severe anxiety. These include extreme sadness, excessive worrying, negative feelings, loss of interest in normal activities, and declining academic or athletic performance.

Bullying is a stressor that warrants special attention. Bullying happens in many settings, including schools. As children’s social lives have moved online, cyberbullying has become increasingly common. Text messages or postings on social media that include threats, rumors, and nasty or untrue comments are forms of cyberbullying. Because many children are texting or on social media continuously throughout the day and even into the night, cyberbullying sometimes can be more harmful than in-person bullying.

Whether bullying happens in person or online, children may be involved as targets, perpetrators, or bystanders. Children who are targets of bullying often experience stress, and are at an increased risk of developing depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and difficulties in school. The perpetrators are at increased risk for substance abuse, academic problems, and violent activities. Kids who are both targets and perpetrators are at greatest risk for these health and social problems. Bystanders, kids who witness bullying, are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, and physical symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches, and rashes.