Anxiety Caused by Daily Events, Causing Serious Issues
Anxiety has serious effects
With today’s hectic schedules and immense pressure for teens, anxiety is common.
Being a teenager is a difficult time for most, and stress from school, major changes at home, and difficulty with social relationships, along with bodily changes, are no help and only increase the potential for anxiety. Many at this age deal with figuring out who they are, and the mental changes they are experiencing dilute their ability to make cogent decisions, often causing an individual to become overwhelmed, further contributing to the natural mood swings created by puberty. Most teens have trouble with social relationships at this age as well, more independence is common and is generally wanted but there is also fear and a feeling of isolation that can come with it. An individual also may not know how to act with others going through a similar process, which leads to submission of peer pressure and the participation of poor activities. Besides these common factors, it is not rare for a major change to occur in a family like divorce, a loss of a job, creating tension with money, or situations more extreme only to add on top of everything else (Calm Clinic).
Anxiety has serious effects on students, sudden outbursts, irritability, inability to stay calm, fast heart beat and feelings of sickness are only some of the symptoms which are forced to be suppressed in the classroom environment (NAMI). With these symptoms, students can have a decrease in grades (Understood). Students may have trouble focusing and paying attention in class and at home studying because they feel overwhelmed and are unsure of where they should even start. Some will get lost in the material and some may just give up. Others may get too nervous to process the material correctly, or even if they do, become so nervous during the assessment or class that it is not applied well. The anxiety can also make a student miserable in school and not enjoy a class or unit they were once interested in. Although this may not seem to affect things academically, being interested in a subject may play a vital role in the effort applied. Anxiety also causes dread, and poor bodily reactions which can lead to absences and a falling behind in material. The symptoms can continue but it is clear that they interact with each other and create a cycle which only builds.
With staying up late studying and exhaustion of the stressed out students, it is no wonder coffee is a frequent part of their lives. Caffeine is always said to be a substance meant to be used occasionally, especially since teens are affected by the symptoms easier than adults. It can result in headaches, jitteriness and a hard time concentrating on the contrary to its energy boost some value as vital. It is also studied that the caffeine can mess up sleeping schedules when used to stay up and get work done, leaving the person tired the next day, doing the opposite of its purpose (Magnus Health). With all the downsides caffeine appears to have, one might ask if having a cup of coffee to gain some energy is worth it, when a better sleeping pattern could be forced instead.
Anxiety causes serious problems for individuals, and for students can negatively impact academics. With all of the research being done on this topic, it is surprising there are not popular methods to help the vast expanse of people, seeing as the problem does not seem to be diminishing. The seriousness of anxiety is real and it is important to get at least a small amount of help whether it be seeing a therapist or stress relievers.
Sarah Lu • Nov 26, 2017 at 11:32 pm
This article related to me very personally, especially the staying up late due to having a tremendous amount of workload that not only stems from school, but also from extracurricular activities, and scheduling conflicts as well. WIth this in mind, it is becoming ever important for individuals to start acquiring the skills of time management since a very early age – too early, in my opinion. A lot of the times I wish life was just simpler and all we had to worry about was school and we did not have all this technology in our lives that revolutionized our way of life and introduced numerous pressures on teenagers that never should have been introduced so early on in this stage of our lives. Many teenagers are convinced that they are independent and mature even though in reality their brains simply cannot have developed the full scope of capabilities they believe themselves to possess.
I think there is too much pressure introduced to teenagers in this era, where their brains and bodies have not fully developed to be able to handle these complications and therefore lead them to a state of overload and overwhelming exhaustion of desperately trying to hold onto their lives despite the constant turmoil of it all, and trying to make a sense of the chaos that surrounds them. For students who are trying to manage their grades, this is especially so with the increasing difficulty of course materials. Many times, when a student who has long been in good standing of their grades, when receiving a setback, may be disparaged because they feel they cannot keep up, that the course pace is going too fast, that teachers are not paying attention to whether they have fully understood the materials but have already moved on. This can lead them to experience the notion of wanting to give up, or feel as though they are drowning in an endless ocean of impossibilities.
This is especially worse when the student has not learned to embrace themselves as a person or have a nature that causes them to feel overwhelmed at even the most insignificant setbacks. Unfortunately, I believe there is no remedy for this “stress epidemic” that is occurring globally, and the fast advancing technology not only does not aid in alleviating the pressures placed upon teenagers this day and age, but rather serve as sinister devices that can put even more stress on teenagers who physically and mentally are not equipped to cope with the existing pressures.
Maya Sze • Nov 22, 2017 at 11:21 pm
I agree that stress leads to serious anxiety issues. Personally, I am faced with the same issues as many other students involving stress due to school work and other activities. But luckily I have stress relievers to decrease the effects of anxiety. These stress relievers are things I like to do, such as reading, watching tv, and playing on my DS. Even if I do these things for 10 minutes, my mind gets taken off of school and life in general. Additionally when I get back to work I am less stressed and more focused. So to those who suffer from anxiety caused by stress, a possible remedy (besides therapy or talking to a professional) is to find something that takes your mind off of the world around you.