»Dealing with Stress

Conditions listed below are known as the few of the most common root cause of depression in teenagers:-

• Death in the family or a traumatic accident:- Such events are unavoidable and in such cases teenager most of the time get caught up by depression. But the best thing that parents or guardian can do to avoid it is to talk with them about the situation, their feelings and their emotions. This will help them in order to relieve from overflowing emotions that remains somewhere in the heart.

• Divorce or separation:- Such events are however under our will but these can't be sacrificed easily if once started. In such cases it's hard to keep the teen away from depression. But if the parent attentively care for this then it can be avoided.

• Abusive relationship or have a substance abuse disorder or mental illness:- These are under the control of the parents, however most of the parents do not care for this. If you are in a substance abuse disorder or mental illness, be aware that you are having a deep affect on your children. Although sometime the teen may pretend that he is not affected by such things, but these are likely to cause a very bad affect on them.

Stress can be avoided if we make few changes in ourselves. If we bring a resilient personality then stress will not be able to strike us so soon. So let's see how we can decimate stressors in our life to decimate stress.

Why not build a stress-free personality by adding these things in our personality, so that we almost never get stressed? Huh! The need to tweak stress will be minimized.  Here are few number of points one should bring up in his personality.   

• Be realistic- Don't always live in your dreams, face the reality. You may get so much of pleasure in your dreams but when your feet will touch the ground, it will be stressful for you.

• Don't try to be perfect- One thing you should accept by heart that nobody is perfect in this world. You can never convince everyone around you. So, you should accept your rough spots and move further in life and by utilizing your good qualities and advantages. This will help you a lot in achieve more and bigger.

• Don't expect others to be perfect- If you are loyal to others then don't expect others to do the same for you. Prepare yourself for the critical situations like someone ditched you or exploited you.

• Watch what you're thinking - Your outlook, attitude, and thoughts influence the way you see things. Is the cup in front of you half full or half empty? Healthy attitude and optimistic thoughts can help you cope with even the worst stressful circumstances.

• Share feelings- Share your feelings, emotions and troubles with your closed ones regularly. Don't keep so much inside in yourself. By this, stress will be less effective on you.

• Be flexible- Don't be firm on your decisions. Take your decisions according to the situation. Always try to change yourself according to the circumstances. Being flexible in nature will decrease the stressors around you.

• Take one thing at a time- Concentrate on one task at a time and give your best on it. Don't divide your energy and efforts on many things. It will result in quality-less work and stress on you.

• Set priorities - Pay attention on the things that are more prior to you or the things that makes you happy. Do not spend all your energy on small stuffs. Do what you love! Love what you do! 

• Solve the little problems - Learning to solve your problems everyday can give you a sense of control. But avoiding them may result to less control on you resulting to stress. Observe the problem, figure out the options, and take the best effective actions toward a solution. Feeling capable of solving little problems builds the inner confidence to move on to life's bigger ones and can serve you well in times of stress.

Have you ever wondered that certain people seem to adapt quickly to stressful circumstances and take things in stride? They're cool under pressure and able to handle problems as they come up. Researchers say that the qualities that make some people seem naturally resilient even when faced with high levels of stress. Why not then try to be RELSILIENT?
 
If you want to build your resilience, work on developing these attitudes and behaviors:

• Participate regularly in social activities and engage with people around you for relaxation and fun.

• Believe in yourself and commit that you will succeed if you don't give up.

• Think of change as a challenging and normal part of life and stress as a temporary situation.

• Take action to solve problems that crop up.

• Try to build strong relationships and always be connected to your family and friends.

Create a mindset to take challenges as opportunities and stressors as temporary problems, not disasters. Practice solving problems and asking others for help and guidance rather than complaining and letting stress build. Make goals and keep track of your progress. Make time for relaxation. Be optimistic. Believe in yourself. Be sure to have regular anti-stressor techniques. And let a little stress motivate you into positive action to reach your goals.

Exercise not only improves your health and reduces stress but it also relaxes tense muscles, calms your mind and helps you to sleep well.

Positive Benefits of Exercising

• Exercise is a diversion that enables you to relax due to a change in environment or routine. It also serves as an outlet to dissipate emotions.

• It improves blood flow to your brain, bringing additional sugars and oxygen that may be needed when you are thinking intensely.

• When you think hard, the neurons of your brain function more intensely. As they do this, they can build more intensely. As they do this, they can build up toxic waste products that can cause foggy thinking. By exercising, you speed the flow of blood through your brain, moving these waste products faster.

• Exercise can cause release of chemicals called endorphins into your blood stream. These give you a feeling of happiness and positively affect your overall sense of well-being.      

Some effective Exercising Techniques

•  Do some gentle neck rolls to help get rid of the tension? Let your chin drop slowly forward. Slowly roll your head to your right shoulder, back, left shoulder and front. Now do the same in the opposite direction. Do it slowly and repeat 10 times.

• Inhale 10 deep breaths. Fill your lungs full, hold and exhale slowly, ridding all the air. Repeat. The fresh dose of oxygen will also recharge your energy.

• Lie on floor or sit in a comfortable chair. With your hands at your side or on the chair arm, visualize each part of your body, beginning with your toes and moving up. Take your time and feel your body relax, bit by bit.

• Sit on the edge of your chair, and learn forward, resting your chest on your knees with your hands and head hanging loosely. Slowly unroll your back, vertebra by vertebra, until you're sitting up nice and straight. This is an excellent exercise for unknotting your back.

• Stand and stretch with your hands over your head. Swing down to touch your toes, bending your knees if you need to. Repeat five to 10 times. Now place your hands on your hips, with your legs apart. Bend forward until your chest is parallel. Turn your head and body slowly to the left, then right forward. Repeat five to 10 times. 

When someone or your closed one is struggling with stress and demanding for help from you then you should keep following things in mind while helping him.

• Pay attention- Try to listen him carefully, even if what he is saying is not making sense or even if you can’t help. By paying attention to one's thought, he may feel better because expressing feelings to someone is a powerful way to relieve from stress.

• Take them seriously- Such persons should be taken seriously by you. Don't play silly pranks or jokes on them as it will definitely hurt them and moreover they will stop sharing their feeling with anyone. Eventually this will result in piles of stress on that person.

• Be patient - With such a person you should behave silently, with calmness and patiently. Give them that much of time which they need from you. Don't be so fast.

• Offer help when necessary- You should not be stay behind in order to offer help. Help the person in getting out of the situation. Try at your best to make him or her comfortable and moreover, help them to come back from the webs of stress.