Stress
“Some people may say stress is just part of life, but it can be really serious and damage your health if it goes on for a long time.“
It’s really common to feel stressed out from time to time – it’s a normal part of life, and can even be beneficial in some situations.
You might feel stressed for a lot of reasons like homework, school and exams, pressure to do well and make decisions about your future, things going on with your friends and family, or a lack of sleep and feeling you have too much to do.
But stress can become a problem when it starts to interfere with your everyday life and relationships, making you unwell. It can also last for a long time, and get worse as other challenges come up in life.
Stress affects everyone differently, but common symptoms can include:
- Feeling overwhelmed, irritable and “wound up”
- Feeling anxious and fearful
- Low self-esteem
- Constant worry
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
- Feeling like your thoughts are racing
- Changes to eating and sleeping patterns
- Muscle tension, pain and headaches
- Avoiding situations or people you are having problems with
- Snapping at people
Some people may say stress is just part of life – but it can be really serious and damage your health if it goes on for a long time. The good news is, there’s a huge amount of support available, and lots you can do yourself to reduce your own stress, or better manage it.
Polaris Children’s Services offer a number of programmes that help people increase their resilience and positive mental wellbeing in order to cope with the challenges life can throw at us all.