Article - Biodiversity

 

Teen Issues - Coping with stress

Coping With Stress

Adolescence has always traditionally been a time of challenge as teens pull away from their parents, develop and consolidate their identities, and assert their independence. But being a teen may be trickier in today’s society than ever before. It is widely accepted that our teenagers are facing unprecedented challenges with depression, stress and anxiety as society changes, technology develops and the adolescent experience evolves.

Despite these challenges, some positive psychology strategies can inoculate our youth against mental illness. Learning to apply the science of strengths, gratitude, optimism, and altruism can lead to positive outcomes in the lives of our teens. While effect sizes and long-term results from intervention studies are sometimes weak, researchers have shown that when adolescents experience and practice these psychological strategies, they experience increased levels of school and life satisfaction, and overall wellbeing. Their experiences of psychological distress and behavioural problems are reduced.

Implementing these strategies can be challenging. Some youth are resistant. Some contexts make some interactions tricky. But positive psychology research suggests that these strategies (among others) may offer hope for our teens and those who care for them as we strive to reduce their experience of depression, stress and anxiety, and increase their resilience and wellbeing.

Stress is something that everyone has to deal with at different times in their life. Researchers and therapists now recognize that chronic stress or acute stress can actually cause changes in the brain, specifically the release and uptake of certain brain chemicals. This change in the specific functioning of the brain over time can result in permanent changes that can leave teens that are under stress with atypical responses to stress. These atypical responses are liked to an increased likelihood of the development of addictions and mental health problems throughout life.

Parents need to be alert to changes in their teen’s behaviors, attitudes and overall health that may signal increasing levels of stress in their lives. Stress with teens often revolves around conflict within the family, changes in their bodies as they mature and develop, difficulties with peers, changing schools, financial problems in the family or difficulties in academics or with balancing work and school.

Typical signs of teen stress that parents need to be watching for include:

• Increasing bouts or use of medications for illnesses including headaches, colds, digestive problems or overall complaints about not feeling good

• Lack of interest in activities that were always enjoyed by the teen

• Excessive concern about body image which may include dieting, attempting to work out all the time or negative talk about their physical appearance

• Changing friends suddenly or associating with people that parents don’t know

• Irritability

• Insomnia or sleeping constantly

• Behavioral signs of anxiety such as nail biting, nervous energy, bad dreams

• Sudden and unexplained loss of interest in academics or struggling in classes that were previously not a problem

Parents often have difficulty in talking to their teens about these issues. Working with a counselor or therapists that can build rapport and communicate with the teen is a great ideal. The counselor or therapist can teach relaxation exercises, increase problem solving skills and teach stress management that will help your teen immediately and also minimize the risk of further problems developing.

Benefits of Yoga

Yoga is universal, and anyone can do it: no matter how young or old you feel, no matter how unfit you consider yourself. Whether you are a couch-potato or professional athlete, the benefits of yoga are for everyone. Your size and fitness level don’t matter because Yoga adapts to you.

Believe it or not, but stress is something we have started accepting as a way of life. It’s inevitable and since everyone goes through it, we don’t make a big deal about it. Children go through stress at school, the youth in college, the adults in their ambitious careers, entrepreneurial ventures and corporate set-ups, the elderly folks with their retirement, parents with raising their children, and so on and so forth. Everyone seems to be chasing time with their set of deadlines and there’s just no spare moment to stop and breathe.

Clay Modelling Activity

Tooty Frooti Treat !!!!

Our students of primary classes are already familiar with the fruits found in India. To introduce them to the exotic varieties found in other countries of the world, an activity ‘Tooty Fruity Treat’ was planned. Through clay molding  the tiny tots expressed their creativity by playfully rolling, squeezing and giving beautiful form to dough of colorful clay to transform it to a fruit. Through this fun-filled activity a basket full of fruits was prepared which contained Breadfruit from Thailand, Orange, Wine grapes and Blueberry from Italy, Rambutan and Persimmon from Japan, Grape fruit and Avocado from New Zealand and Pomegranate and Dates from Saudi Arabia.

This activity enhanced their knowledge about the variety of fruits found in different parts of the world and at the same time helped them in their cognitive and fine motor skill development.

Very aptly children proved that ‘learning by doing’ is always more effective than any other method.

VIDEO OF ACTIVITY

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