Teen Forums - Teen Chat, Teen Help, Teen Advice & Support

Stress is one thing we all experience in life, whether it be because of exams, because of school life in general, work, money, home life, anything. There are many situations where you get stressed, and it is an unavoidable part of life. One thing you will need to know is ways of dealing with it. These include relaxation methods, more positive thinking and looking forward. Following this guide and perhaps even a few replies to this thread may help you keep your stress to a minimum when you really need it.

Firstly...
I am no expert on stress. Do not take any of what I say as seriously as if it were coming out of a professional's mouth, as it is not. I do have experience of dealing with stress and have spoken to a few professionals about it, so I thought I'd share what I know with you, Teen Forumz.

Let's get started!
One of the easiest ways of coping with stress is to do daily relaxation methods. By doing this, you become a less stressed person overall and begin to find it easier to deal with stressful situations as, with some of these, you can use whenever you do feel stressed.

The first is an obvious one that many of you may have used in the past anyway, but I will still go over it. This method is deep breathing, it helps to calm down anything related to stress, anxiety, depression, almost anything. Getting yourself calmed down in situations is one of the main after effects for this method.

You can either do this standing up or lying down, just ensure you have a straight back. Firstly, breath in through your nose slowly, filling up your body from the bottom of your stomach upwards. Before letting the air out, hold it for a second or two, then exhale. Repeating this method was a big success for me, it helped me cope with stressful situations like exams, coursework, and allowed me more space to think.

Pros:
- This method can be done anywhere, whether it be before an exam, during work, at an interview for a job, any stressful moment you can think of.

- Not only does it cope with stress, it can also help calm down from panic attacks, anxiety, depression, anger. This will most likely be the same for all relaxation methods, however.

Cons:
- Overdoing this method could lead to dizzyness. If you find this, take it more slowly, you are going to fast. If you're still feeling dizzy after taking it as slow as you can, I would advise not carrying on with this method.

The second is takes advantage of your imagination. If you have the time, you can imagine yourself in your favourite, most relaxing place you can think of. This could be anywhere, as long as it is relaxing.

I like to think I am in a cottage on top of a hill, around me are the most beautiful surroundings I have ever seen. Outside I can here the sound of chirping birds, the wind blowing against the trees, the sound of crickets in the tall grass. The day is very bright but extremely cold, the sun is beaming down onto the hill illuminating my wooden cottage perched atop the hill. I am inside, staring outside the window watching the world go bye. In the distance, just on the horizon, I can see the sea. I am breathing deeply, savouring the fresh country air, such a wonderful smell it is.

That is almost spot on to what I like to imagine. You can come up with your own one, if you find snow relaxing, use snow as your main theme. However, if you find it hard to come up with something relaxing and find my scene the best, feel free to use it. It's not copyrighted or anything!

Pros:
- This method is an exceptional way of putting yourself into a relaxed state.
- You can attempt to stay in this scene throughout the day, imagining your surroundings are your scene. This may be, however, quite distracting.

Cons:
- Doing this during a meeting or at work may be troublesome and waste time. It is probably best to do it during breaks or before the meeting itself.

The third and final method involves pets. Out of all the pets, cats have been scientifically proven to be the most relaxing animals. This, however, does not mean none of the other pets aren't relaxing! When you have a pet, you can usually train it to be loyal, stroke it, comfort it, and be comforted by it. For instance, if you take a dog out for a walk you can see it is enjoying itself. For me, this gives me a wonderful feeling and makes me feel happier for the rest of the day. If you own a dog, going a run with it may be a good idea as it can help take out anger and stress on the pavement.

Pros:
- Pets, for the most part, are extremely loyal and will never leave you, never saying anything to put you down or anger you. Granted, it may pee on the carpet, which would obviously be quite angry.

Cons:
- As mentioned in the pros, it will take a long time to train your pet if you buy it new. So, this method could make your life even more stressful and therefore may be the most unreliable method I have put into here. Some people may find training a stress reliever, so it really is up to the person.

And now, onto your state of mind...
Obviously, if you think negatively and are quite pessimistic, you may be more prone to stress. Optimistic people who look on the bright side of everything and only look forward are less prone as from stress usually comes something good. So, if possible, try to become more positive in your thinking and begin to develop into a more positive person.

For now, at least, this is all I shall put. If you have anything to add, any personal stories or your own stress relieving techniques, please feel free to post them.

Keep up the guides! Thought i'd throw in something that I do to help stress.

My brother stresses me out ALOT so i've learned what to do to help cope with it. I do one of three things, daydream about just anything really, ignore him, or my favorite, listen to music.

I'm not saying to blast your music but for sure the best way in my opinion is to drown yourself in music for atleast 15 minutes. Does the trick everytime.

That is, infact, one thing I forgot to add.

Listening to Trance (which is a type of techno) is extremely relaxing, I find. Especially a sub-genre of trance: Uplifting Trance. Search YouTube for uplifting trance and have a look at some of the videos, it gives a truly tranquil feel to life.

Its nice to just lission to some calm music and close your eyes.

great guide i know there is more so keep adding

This has been stickied and added to our Resources section on the homepage. Great work

Thank you Michael, just glad to see my guides and such have a positive affect on the community.

Great thread, I usually play with my cats when I'm stressed and will definatly start with the others. I think this will help everyone out alot, especially because it's a teen forum.

hey i joined this hoping someone can help me i really need it starting to feel like i am a quitter.please write me -kayla

That's all...
i salute your simple mind..

Je Te connais , je t'attraperai , Pourquoi ?

Simplement

Par ce que je suis la Justice elle-mème..