Developing Healthy Coping Mechanisms for Stress and Anxiety

Learning coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety is an important strategy for managing your mental health. This is particularly true for adolescents, who experience higher rates of anxiety than their adult counterparts and often don’t have the lived experience of how to overcome stressful situations.

Project Eden offers counseling for youth and their families. Discover more about Project Eden at Horizon Services.

Stress and Anxiety in Teens

Before diving into the coping strategies teens can use to manage stress and anxiety, it’s important to recognize where these stressors come from. Teenagers today face an abundance of external and internal pressures, pulling them in several directions at once and often leaving them feeling overwhelmed.

Just a few of the stressful situations teens commonly report experiencing on a regular basis include:

• Pressure to succeed academically
• A need to fit in with their peers
• Low self-esteem
• Mental health challenges such as anxiety or depression
• Unrealistic standards of wealth or beauty on social media
• Family stressors such as divorce, expectations, or responsibilities at home

Without effective coping skills, these stressors can quickly become too much to bear. When teens experience chronic levels of stress, they are much more likely to develop mental health challenges such as an anxiety disorder, which can further impact their ability to thrive in this critical developmental stage.

Recent reports suggest that upwards of 40% of teens experience clinically significant anxiety symptoms, such as not being able to control their worrying, feeling on edge, or having panic attacks.

As hard as these challenges can be, helping teens learn healthy coping strategies can go a long way toward overcoming these difficulties.

Healthy Coping Skills to Develop

Adding just a few anxiety and stress management skills into your toolbox can prevent more serious mental health complications in the future. Some of the simplest and most effective coping strategies you can develop include:

Start an Exercise Routine

Getting regular exercise can do wonders for your mental and physical health. Exercise can be used as both an in-the-moment coping strategy and a powerful protective factor against future stress.

For teens, the options for regular exercise are nearly endless. Common options include:

• Joining the high school track team
• Starting weight lifting or calisthenics
• Sports such as soccer, football, or swimming
• Dance or gymnastics

An exercise routine helps prepare your body for stress, which can in turn prevent the onset of mental health symptoms. Further, studies have shown that teenagers involved in extracurricular activities are at much lower risk of initiating substance use, developing mental health problems, or other emotional health challenges.

Mindfulness Strategies

Learning to practice mindfulness can be a powerful tool for coping with the everyday stress of life. Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment, learning to accept things outside of your control, and approaching thoughts and feelings without judgment.

Mindfulness is typically taught through a formal sitting meditation practice, where you sit quietly and focus on your breath or an internal mantra. But you can also practice this technique through mindful eating, body scans, breathing exercises, or yoga.

Grounding Techniques

Grounding techniques are a set of coping skills meant to help people experiencing overwhelming anxiety right now. These techniques encourage people to bring their attention to their physical senses, rather than their racing thoughts, to help ground themselves back into physical reality.

One such skill is known as the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. When you start to feel anxious, pause and notice:

• Five things you can see
• Four things you can touch
• Three things you can hear
• Two things you can smell
• One thing you can taste

Connecting back to your physical body when you experience anxiety can soothe your mind, relieve stress, and help you get back to a calmer and more relaxed state.

Consider Professional Help

If these healthy coping skills aren’t enough to soothe your stress and anxiety, consider reaching out to a mental health professional for support. Working with a counselor can help you develop new strategies for dealing with stress, reduce your anxiety symptoms, and help you to thrive.

Stress and anxiety are common challenges in your teenage years, but you don’t have to live with them forever. Starting treatment can help you build the life you want to live, free from the shackles of mental health challenges.

We help at-risk teens find a better way to live. Learn more about Project Eden at Horizon Services.