Mackenzie VanderFeltz

Enough is Enough
All to often you here someone talking about how stressed out they are for an upcoming test, sports practice, game, or work. What causes teens to experience stress? The events in our lives that cause us stress are called stressors. If stress isn’t dealt with properly it will cause one to go into distress. Stress is a bigger issue than most people can comprehend. When one is stressed, the brain depletes of important chemicals needed to regulate emotions. After this occurs, they will begin to feel physical and mental symptoms that can disrupt the enjoyment of a normal life. Within the brain, there are different types of neurotransmitters. The main types of neurotransmitters are serotonin, which regulates your “body clock”. It is usually the first neurotransmitter to fail under stress causing you to be tired all the time. Noradrenaline, which responsible for our bodies energy levels. When this neurotransmitter begins to fail, you will realize you have no energy and feel as if you can get anything completed. Dopamine, the last neurotransmitter associated with stress, controls the pleasure center of your brain. When it begins to fail you will begin to notice that you won’t find happiness in activities that you once enjoyed. The failing of these three neurotransmitters can cause a poor diet, lack of regular sleep, and lack of exercise. There are four main types of stress: eustress, distress, hyper-stress, and hypo-stress. The two types of stress that are more presentable in teens are distress and hyper-stress. Distress is the negative stress that is brought about by constant readjustment or altercations in a routine. Hyper-stress occurs when an individual is pushed beyond what he or she can handle, which can come from being overworked or overloaded. The main trigger of teenage stress comes from academics, high school sports, and having a job.
In the mind of a teenager, you are supposed to be the best you can be in all you do. These academic expectations put on us by our peers, teachers, and parents can cause more damage mentally and physically than one realizes. With these standards that you set for yourself, it becomes too much for someone alone to handle. This is when you have approached your breaking point. You may feel as if your world is falling in on you because you are overworked in school, at your job, or even at home. You are not alone in feeling this way. Many think that college is where our stress begins with our academics, but that isn’t the case in this generation. The nervous breakdowns, panic attacks, being burnt-out, and depression set in in so many of the younger students. It’s not only ourselves that create these goals that are to much to handle, but outsider forces wane on our academics in areas such as time management and procrastination. These create more stress on someone because they are so wore out with everything they have on their plate they need time to relax. Pushing everything off until the last minute heightens the effect of stress on the student and can become severely unhealthy. The majority of students play high school sports because of the tougher competition and for the love of the sport. You have practice every night and weightlifting every morning. High school sports, may it be football, basketball, softball, volleyball, track, or baseball, will consume your life for the entirety of the season. That means the pressure of schoolwork will be on you because you must keep your grades up to play the sport. Not only school, but also coaches will put the stress