Stress and Its Effects on Youth Essay

Stress, anxiety, extreme fear, and nervousness have become common in the Youth. With covid-19, Stress on people has aggravated. It is a feeling when people work under pressure. It is believed that Youth is more stressed nowadays, which is much contributed to an unhealthy lifestyle and working under extreme pressure.

Stress could be emotional or physical, and extreme Stress leads to unwanted results. Stress directly affects the mental health of the person. Everyone faces pressure in their life; it is how you deal with it that is more important. A person should have a clear understanding of how Stress is affecting their mental health. Experts point out that little degree of Stress is good for humans, but extreme Stress is disastrous for the human mind. Earlier, children did not experience Stress in their life, but the scene has changed. Now children between 9-12 claim that they are under Stress. It is primarily attributed to study overload and academic routine.

Symptoms of Stress

Experts treat Stress as long-term or short-term. Chronic Stress is hazardous and significantly impacts the human mind and health. Common signs of Stress are:

• Low Energy
• Dizziness
• Grinding Teeth
• Changes in Mood
• Anxious Feeling
• Decreased Sex Drive
• Problems in digestion
• Sleeping problems
• Headaches
• Clammy

Types of Stress

All Stress does not produce a negative result. A little stress is required to break the inertia and is good for the human mind. Different types of Stress are:

• Chronic Stress: This type of Stress is inescapable and never-ending, and this Stress generally happens due to an extremely tiring job or bad marriage. It can also be generated if the person remembers their past traumatic experiences.
• Episodic Acute Stress: This Stress is treated in the short term and could act as a positive for the person. This Stress is very common among people, and people experience it very often. This Stress is generated due to certain events that have occurred in their ongoing life.
• Eustress: This Stress is exciting and amazing. It is related to the flow of adrenaline. It is treated as positive Stress that keeps people energetic.

Cause of Stress

A lot of factors contribute to generating Stress in a person's life. Some major causes of Stress are parenting, relationships, pressurized work, financial problems, and inconvenient day-to-day activities.

Stress happens as a response to these challenges, and certain hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released in this process. Experts say that Stress is a response to a perceived threat. When this perception is passed, the mind automatically goes to a relaxation response. This relaxation response is seldom generated in the body as the body is constantly fighting the perceived notion of threat. Stress can turn people to adopt unhealthy habits. For example, people start smoking or eating too muchto avoid Stress. These things directly affect human health and will have negative consequences.

Stress Hormones

When you see a perceived threat, the Hypothalamus, which is present at the base of the human brain, starts reacting. It generates hormone and nerve signals to the adrenal glands, which causes the production of many hormones. Hormones make you prepare to fight the threat and your probability of survival increases. Adrenaline supplements in:

• Stimulate perspiration
• Increase your breathing rate
• Inhibit insulin production
• Contraction of the blood vessel to direct blood into the muscles
• Help the muscle to use glucose
• Enhances the rate of heartbeat

Surges of Adrenaline can produce results like

• Weight gain
• Headaches
• Ruptured blood vessels
• Increased risk of stroke and heart attack
• Anxiety
• Ruptured blood vessels
• Insomnia

Cortisol and Stress

Cortisol, the important stress hormone, has a significant role in a stressful scenario. Function include are

• Alteration of immune system response.
• Increasing the quantity of glucose in the bloodstream.
• Affects that area of the brain that controls mood, fear, and motivation.
• Aids the brain in the utilization of glucose in an effective way.
• Dampens the reproductive system and growth process
• Increasing the accessibility of material that supplements tissue repair.

A high level of cortisol will have negative repercussions on your body:

• Weak immune system (Vulnerable to infections)
• Memory problems and memory cloudiness
• Weight gain
• Diabetes (type 2)
• Sleep problems
• Osteoporosis
• Lack of energy

Stress and Anxiety

People treat Stress and anxiety as the same. An immense feeling of Stress generates feeling of anxiety. Anxiety makes it very difficult for people to cope with Stress. Anxiety could lead to digestive problems, increased depression, and susceptibility to illness.

It also leads to muscle tension, high blood pressure, and poor sleep. Experts say that anxiety is an internal reaction to Stress. Stress might get away from the body, but anxiety remains in the body for a longer period.

Effects of Stress

Stress severely damages the well-beingof a person. It makes daily life challenging and damages personal relationships, and have a damaging effect on human health. When a person is under immense Stress, they behave accordingly. It sometimes takes an emotional toll on people, and a light degree of Stress may generate frustrations and mild anxiety, but prolonged Stress could generate depression, anxiety disorder, and burnout. Some of the stress-generated problems are:

• Diabetes
• Ulcers
• Obesity
• Tooth and Gum Disease
• Heart Disease
• Hair loss
• Sexual Dysfunction
• Hyperthyroidism

Stress Treatment

This problem does not have a particular treatment. Some of the experimented techniques that have been useful in dealing with problem stress are complementary and Alternative medicine, therapy, and medication, but stress treatment mainly deals with the development of Stress coping skills and the implementation of relaxation techniques.

• Medication: Medications are given to treat some symptoms of Stress. Such medication involves anti-anxiety medications, sleep aids, antidepressants and antacids.
• Psychotherapy: Some known therapies for successfully treating Stress include mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CAT). MBSR uses mindfulness and meditation as a tool to lower Stress. Cognitive Behavioural therapy uses to generate positive feelings and avoiding negative emotions.
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Complementary methods that help lower stress levels are meditation, yoga, acupuncture, massage, and aromatherapy.

Source of Stress in Young Minds

Tension at home for the young is a common source. Children may be affected due to separation, divorce, loss, or family discord, but tension and Stress are not limited to the home. Experts claim that one of the major sources of Stress in young kids is school. School burdens children with an overload of work. They get anxious, nervous, and stressed when they hear about tests, grades, and exams.

Stress in Teenagers and Adolescents

As children grow up, the sources of Stress grow up. Study shows that Teens get more easily stressed than young kids. Experts see a significant rise in mental health problems in both age groups. Earlier, this was prevalent mostly in the adult group, and now they have also started affecting teens and children. It is a cause of concern. Peers can help reduce Stress, and the development of social relationships helps reduce Stress, particularly during adolescence.

Signs of Stress

• Sleeping Problems: A person may feel tired, sleep more than the required time, and not fall asleep at night.
• Eating Behaviour: It is seen that people under Stress start eating too much or eat too little. These reaction points toward the issue of Stress.
• Irritation and Anger: Youth sometimes tries to avoid showing its feeling, and this leads to frustration and anger among Youth. Stressed youths may behave as argumentative and short-tempered.
• Frequent Change in Behaviour: Mood swings problems are common who are stressed out. Some of the observed symptoms are that once active Youth does not intends to leave his home.
• Sickness: Stress can also be visible with physical symptoms. Youth of today claims stomachache, headaches, and pain.

Simple Ways to Cope with the Stress

Stress affects all people, but it is manageable. There are some simple steps that you can adopt to combat Stress and lower its impact:

• Regular Exercise: Experts and Scientists from every corner of the world have advocated for regular exercise. They have said that simple exercises lower the stress level. Simple exercises could include jogging, long walking, stretching, skipping, jumping, pull-ups, and push up if possible. Performing simple exercises regularly will keep your mental health in a balanced state.
• Identifying the Signs of Burnout: High levels of burnout contribute significantly to enhancing stress levels. Burnout is the condition of emotional or physical exhaustion that gives a sense of reduced fulfilment and loss of identity. Depression is also a reason behind burnout. When you experience emotional exhaustion, you need to understand that time has come to handle the Stress.
• Care Yourself: Bring regular care activities into your daily life, which is an important element in lowering Stress. Give your soul, mind, and body some time to recover, replenish, and reboot. Explore the methods to live life to the fullest.
• Performing Mindfulness: Mindfulness is a simple human ability and state of being conscious. Explore ideas and methods to live your day in a state of mindfulness.

Role of Parents in Dealing with Stress

Parents and close friends are crucial in healing stressed, depressed, and nervous people. Loss of parental contact and family problems are listed as causes of Stress, but they can help significantly reduce the Stress of their child. They can make their children's lives bright by incorporating a healthy lifestyle and stress-managing strategies.

• Fighting Negative Feelings and Thinking: Youth is easily susceptible to negative thoughts and seen pronouncing sentences like "I'm horrible in maths", "My life has become hell", and "There is nothing good in the world". When your child demonstrates such feelings, remind them how they have worked hard to improve their lives and faced the same situations while growing up.
• Let Youth Fight Themselves: It is obvious that every parent wants to fix their child's problems. Parents helping their child at every level will deprive him of developing his coping skills. Give your son a chance to solve problems involving a low level of risk. Through it, they will have confidence in dealing with setbacks.
• Become a Model to Your Child: Parents can narrate their stories of how they have dealt with problems while growing up. It will motivate their child.

Mental Health Institutions in India

These are central government-backed mental health institutions.

• Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi.
• Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur.
• National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore.

According to Government data, there are 40 state-run hospitals and 398 Departments of Psychiatry. Some of the state and central government-run mental health hospitals are given below

• The Medical Superintendent Psychiatric Diseases hospital GMC, Jammu, Ambphalla B.C. Road.
• Karanataka Institute of Mental Health, Belgaum Road, Dharwad, Karnataka.
• Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke, Ranchi Jharkhand
• Ranchi Institute for Neuropsychiatry and Allied Science, Ranchi (RINPAS).
• Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, GT Road, Jhilmil, Delhi.

National Mental Health Programme

Parliament cleared legislation called Mental Health Care Act 2017 on 7 April 2017. The laws recognize that people with mental illness are a vulnerable section of society and face discrimination from society. The Government also came out with the National Mental Health Programme in 1982.

Three major parts of the National Mental Health Programme

Objective

• Ensuring accessibility and availability of minimum health care for all in the future.
• Boosting Human resources in mental health subspecialties.
• Encouraging the application of mental health knowledge in general healthcare and social development.
• Promoting community-level participation in mental health service development.

The Government wanted to take this program to the district level, so they came up with District Mental Health Program.

Objective

• Treat and rehabilitate people with a mental health conditions within the community.
• Early detection and treatment of patients within the community itself
• To provide sustainable basic mental health services to the community and to integrate these services with other health services.
• To reduce the stigma of mental illness through public awareness.

Frequently Asked Questions on Stress and its effects on the Youth

Ques: How can people get rid away from Stress?

Ans: Stress is like homework. If you do not address a single day, it will continuously pile up and create a huge problem. If you let the problem pile up, you will feel exhausted and stressed. The best solution is to address the issue one at a time. Do not let the Stress to get overwhelm you.

Ques: What are the other healthier ways should adopt to reduce Stress?

Ans: Coping with a problem one at a time greatly helps, but there are some situations where it becomes difficult to cope with a problem, for example, the death of a loved one. In this circumstance, a person needs time to accept reality and truth. It would help if you tried to understand your feeling and manage them accordingly. You can take help and assistance from your close family and friend.

Ques: Does exercising play a crucial role in the reduction of Stress?

Ans: Many experts have pointed out that exercises do wonders in times of Stress. Even a ten minutes dance can soothe your mind and body. This is true and scientific for people who are coping with Stress.

Ques: Is Stress common?

Ans: There is not a single person who does not experience, Stress in his life. It is omnipresent in human life. People try to hide the Stress, but that does not mean they do not experience it. Data suggests that Stress has become in the very young child. However, the amount of Stress and coping strategies varies from person to person.

Ques: How do introverts cope with Stress?

Ans: Extroverts have a better chance, or rather an advantage, in dealing with Stress as they can open up easily about the problem to the public. Introverts feel harder to communicate their problem to the world, but the tools introverts use to cope with Stress are similar, like reading, stress therapy, and exercise. They communicate their problems with fellow introverts and try to assist each other in addressing them.

Ques: Does Stress give rise to medical issues?

Ans: Persistent Stress gives rise to several health issues. That includes persistent headaches that would increase the severity. Other health issues involve rapid heartbeats, insomnia, and chest pain. It is being noticed that those who are under continuous Stress give birth to several heart issues.

Ques: Is medication useful in relieving Stress?

Ans: In usual cases, it is not advised to take medication during Stress. This is because the medication will lead to avoiding the issues at hand. There is another possibility that you might develop tolerance power for the medication and demand a higher dosage. Higher dosages will lead to side effects of the medicine.

Ques: Does therapy useful?

Ans: It does. You can try self-therapy, which consists coping mechanism for Stress. However, therapy is only affordable for some, but in serious cases, therapy is the best treatment.

Ques: Elucidate some of the symptoms generated due to Stress.

Ans: Symptoms generated due to Stress are back pain, continuous headaches, lower energy, and sleep. It will create turbulence in your work-life balance and will lower your productivity.

Ques: Is it true that Stress leads to weight gain?

Ans: There is little evidence to link between weight gain and Stress, but a significant correlation exists. Some people resort to overeating and smoking also. A significant amount of change is noticed in their lifestyle behavior.

Ques: Does it ever get better?

Ans: All problems discussed related to Stress are reversible. To get out of the Stress, follow the correct techniques and strategies. Remember, seeking help in a bad time is not a bad idea. Family and friends are always there to help you in troubled times. It would help if you did not doubt their intention and yourself.

Ques: Which are some of the best yoga poses to relieve Stress?

Ans: Some of the yoga asanas that help in reducing Stress are:

• Sukhasana (Easy Pose)
• Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby Pose)
• Uttanasana (Standing Forwand Bend)
• Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend)
• Balaasana (Child pose)
• Garudasana (Eagle Pose)
• Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)

Conclusion

The recent covid-19 pandemic has fuelled the debate on mental health. It has increased Stress among Youth and all ages of people. There is an immense need to promote mental health at the grassroots level and end the stigmatization of the problem.