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Ask teens what stresses them out and they’re just as likely to list “competition for college admission” in the same breath as “competition for couches at Starbucks.” It’s not because they’re shallow, unable to discern between real angst and too much caffeine. It’s because today’s teens are truly stressed to the max.
“Just about anything you can think of will send a tidal wave of cortisol and adrenaline through a teenager these days,” says Dr. Ann Saunders, assistant professor of psychiatry at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Not to mention the very real physiologic stress of shifting hormones. “Stress really does exist in their lives.”
As well it should. “Contrary to our current cultural system of expectations, the human being should not be able to do 50 million things with poise and grace,” Saunders says. At the very least, we shouldn’t be able or expected to do 50 million things at once—even if the current cultural mantra says we can.
Today’s teen begins building a resume in middle school, complete with volunteer work, sports affiliations and academic clubs. Today’s teen may be fighting for a precious few after-school job to supplement the family income or fighting to stay free of a gang. Either way, today’s teen has an eclipsed childhood.
“They come into their doctor’s offices with headaches, stomach pain, insomnia or racing hearts. They are just little grown-ups experiencing classic symptoms of adult stress,” Saunders says.
The very word, stress, is so imbedded in our vocabulary that, like traffic, you just don’t notice it anymore. The word has morphed into a noun, a verb and a polite response to “How are you?”
“Stressed, thank you, and you?”
But, what is it? Is it a state of mind? Does it land on you like lint? Do you catch it like a virus? Can you lose it and find it again, like car keys?
Stress is an internal response to an external event. Or, in the case of 21st century adolescents (and their parents) it is the very real emotional and physiologic response to a perceived danger/threat/worry that may or may not even exist.
Example: you go to update your online college application and suddenly you get… the Blue Screen of Death—the crashed computer.
This same physical response would occur if a truck came careening toward your car or your house caught fire. In fact, this same response might occur if you simply imagined what a Blue Screen of Death could mean.
“Under duress we choose between three modes of behavior common in the animal kingdom: we initiate the fight or flight response or we freeze,” explains Sam Hester, Work/Life coordinator and wellness coach at The UT Health Science Center. In other words, we attack like beasts, flee like gazelles or freeze like chameleons.
The “fight or flight” mechanism was useful when we were being chased by wooly mammoths or defending ourselves against warring tribes. And, it still does the job during those rare moments when we actually face true danger. Stress hormones kick start our heart rate to pump more blood. They quicken our breathing to get more oxygen intake for fuel. They dilate our pupils to take in more light.
The problem for modern adolescents is that the same stress hormones that saved their ancestors from the jaws of death also course through the body at the thought of a pop quiz. Our brains don’t differentiate between real and imagined threats. The fear of a looming S.A.T. sends the same primal signals to our adrenal glands as the fear of circling lions. Our response to stress—or the thought of a stressor—can put our bodies into a fight-or-flight mode 50 times a day.
Freeze mode means we become sedentary, camped out on the couch in front of the TV. Under stress, we freeze, become paralyzed, respond by not responding. We become invisible, blending in with our surroundings, hoping the enemy—the looming S.A.T—will simply go away. We find ways to dull our senses through food, drugs, alcohol or TV. If we respond to stressors in this way 50 times a day, we become inert.
So, how do you reduce stress? “Move and breathe,” Hester says, “the two things your body was meant to do.”
“The human body was meant to move. What we should do is activate the large muscle groups,” he says. Working out, dancing, skating, walking and biking all burn off stress hormones “like the morning sun burns off dew.”
When you feel pressure, mounting anger, anxiety, “get up and move for 10 to 20 minutes. Take a brisk walk around the block. Jump in place. Get moving on purpose,” Hester suggests.
Movement that increases cardiovascular output in the absence of fear or stress tunes and tones the body for healthier responses to stress. Blood pressure rises and falls to meet appropriate demands. Heart rate accelerates only when necessary.
Then, learn to breathe.
Hester says that when we are stressed, but are inactive, we rev up the stress response. “Our breath gets rapid, shallow, noisy and irregular unless we consciously change it. It’s part of the autonomic response to stress.”
Controlling our breath is the “single best thing we can do. It reverses the stress response and calms us down,” Hester says.
Though there are literally hundreds of breathing techniques that have been proven useful for thousands of years, you have to start somewhere.
“This is how we breathe when we are asleep or naturally relaxed,” Hester says. “This is how children breathe.”
Ann Saunders spends her days helping adolescents navigate their stressful terrains. Teens now deal with the same accelerated lifestyles as their parents, with fewer—or undeveloped -- coping mechanisms to manage the collateral damage of worry and anxiety.
One natural resource that used to get other generations through stressful workloads was the heady sense of accomplishment from a completed task. Yet, we live in a time when no email, phone call, assignment, project ever reaches completion because we do so many tasks at once.
“It is not only that they are expected to perform multiple tasks,” Saunders says, “but adolescents think that they are expected to perform all tasks perfectly just to stay above water. The pressure they put on themselves is merciless.”
Sometimes, Saunders says, you just have to grab control to keep from spiraling out of control. Saunders encourages her adolescent patients to first stop and think. “Assess what you’re doing. Is it productive? Sometimes telling someone ‘no’ is the wisest, most adult decision you can make.”
Saunders then encourages teens to prioritize. “We learn early to try to be all things to all people and it is not possible. Reduce your stressors by identifying what must be done first and then complete it.”
And, when stress reaches a point where it is no longer manageable or you find yourself fleeing, fighting or freezing most of your day, “find someone to talk to. You will be surprised to know how open your teachers, parents and friends are to your needs,” Saunders says.
“One of the more common misperceptions of young college students is that they really see themselves as just a number, when the professors do not.” A simple email request for an appointment or an after-class introduction usually is welcomed by professors and goes a long way to alleviate the anxiety of freshmen.
“My own daughter was stunned by the positive reception of a professor when she needed more time on a project,” Saunders recalls. “It hadn’t occurred to her that they are people, too, who want to know their students—that is why they became educators.”
And, ask yourself each time you feel your heart pounding in your chest: is anything really, truly happening to me right this minute that can hurt me?
“Most of our stress and anxiety are homegrown feelings over which we do have some control. We just need to learn how,” Saunders says.
The human body cannot sustain prolonged or repeated fight-flight-freeze responses without harm. Depression, free-floating anxiety, substance abuse, and chronic physical illness and pain can all be results of stress overdose.
Your stress level may be reaching a critical point if you
Both Saunders and Hester urge adolescents who experience disruption in their lives from stress to seek help from a school counselor, a teacher, or their parents. “There are always solutions,” Saunders says.
Last Updated: 11-12-2008Editorial Board | Legal Disclaimer | Privacy & Security | Contact Us
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Dr. Ann Saunders is an associate professor of psychiatry at the UT Medical School.
See Dr. Saunders also at:
Sam Hester is a wellness coach and the Work/Life coordinator for the Employee Assistance Program at The UT Health Science Center.
The mouth:
a window to the body
Researchers have found connections between periodontal (gum) infections and other diseases throughout the body, suggesting a link between gum disease, heart disease and other health conditions.
Research suggests that gum disease may be as serious a risk factor for heart disease as hypertension, smoking, cholesterol, gender and age. Those with gum disease seem to be at higher risk for heart attacks. Possible explanations involve mouth bacteria that loosen and flow to the arteries, creating arterial plaque.
If your dentist diagnoses you with gum disease, inform your medical health care professional, as well.
