Everyone gets a bit stressed and anxious at High School.

It’s normal when you experience so many new challenges and changes.

Sometimes, a little pressure can be good. It gets you going and helps you to get things done. Too much can have the opposite effect and you may become so anxious that you feel really bad and you can’t get anything done at all.

You will know when you are beyond feeling the pressure and feeling ‘stressed out’ when your moods and behaviours change.

The most common signs of stress changes are -

• Being irritable and losing your sense of humour
• Not being able to concentrate or make up your mind on anything
• Feeling tired all the time
• Not being able to sleep properly
• Not enjoying your food as much or overeating

When you are very stressed you might even feel sick, your stomach may churn, you may need the toilet urgently and your heart is likely to beat a lot faster than normal.

These are physical reactions to what your mind interprets as danger, symptoms that humans have experienced since they lived in caves. When it senses danger your body produces a hormone called ‘adrenaline’ and pumps more blood as well as oxygen and sugar to your muscles, giving you extra energy to deal with the danger. It would have helped your caveman ancestors to fight another tribe or run away from a tiger, but we still get the same symptoms when we are suffering from exam nerves!

What causes stress?

There are a lot of different things that cause stress, things that are difficult or challenge our abilities like exams or emotional things that happen in families and other relationships.

Top 5 high school stresses

• 1. Exams and grades
• 2. Peer pressure and bullying
• 3. Homework
• 4. Teenage body changes
• 5. Relationships with family and friends