Stress in Young People

王新

Stress is a universal and common phenomenon in the world. Stress means different things to different people; it refers to the individual， event or the interaction between a person and his or her environment. In recent years， there have been increases in stress- related disorders in young people. These trends indicate an increase in the pressures faced by young people because they have so many experiences which are difficulties and challenges. According to Professor Zhang， who works in Harbin Normal University，“close to 85 percent of people report having felt stress at some point in their lives.” Hence，nowadays stress has become a significant and pervasive problem around this world. In addition，stress is seen as an important issue for professionals in many disciplines，and it includes environmental，psychological variables and processes. Stress is a common affliction among students， but the impact of psychological stress and school pressure is particularly common on low-income students， many analysts say. Researchers and doctors now understand the causes of this condition，which affects millions of young people. Whats more，young people are seen stressed for many reasons; for example，relationship or friendship， developmental tasks or social context，family （especially young people with divorced parents），and school.

Stress and depression are serious problems for many teenagers; likewise，breaking up with boy/girlfriend， increased arguments with their parents，trouble with brother or sister，serious illness or injury of family member，trouble with classmates，and trouble with parents. Stress is characterized by feelings of tension，frustration，worry，sadness and withdrawal that commonly last from a few hours to a few days. If worse can cause chronic depression and also fatal thoughts of being suicidal （Walker，2005）.

Divorced families may cause devastating effects on people too. For example， one students parents divorced which totally changed her. She skipped school and smoked all the time. Therefore， the decision to divorce causes major changes in the lives of all family members， and some turbulence is inevitable. Its appearance that money becomes a huge problem for most people， thereby making most breaking up of relationship in young people is due to their characters and personalities. A website called “www.sohu.com” usually has updated news and showed that someone committed suicide since they were so sad due to the fighting with their families and their boy/girlfriends. A friend of mine was facing stress when she was studying in my university in China. It occurred that she had just broken up with her boyfriend of four years and she was down and depressed. Many have advised her and even told her to go for counseling. The condition had not improved much as she fell deeper in sorrow and started abusing herself with alcohol in hopes of forgetting her boyfriend. She lost her appetite to eat and started to have depression issues and turning into an anti-social person. Everyone was concerned bout her deteriorating health and also the change in behavior. Friends try to cheer her up and brought her out on a ladys night and she finally broke in tears as she felt how much joy shared between her and her friends as if she just woke up from a horrible dream. After crying out loud and sharing her problems， it is as if a weight is lifted off her shoulder and she returned to her old joyful self. It is clear that relationships can be a driving force for success or downfall. People should learn how to manage stress efficiently to lead a healthy and happy lifestyle.

Another main factor is the development tasks or we can say the social pressure. Its essential that most young people experience social context like unemployment， crowded office relations， intense life rhythm， and traffic jams. According to recent research from a famous company called “Fox Coon” of China， 19 employees committed suicide during one year. The significant reason is that they were often exhausted by workloads that are unbearable for a 24 hours day. They dont earn enough for the amount of work they do and made them feel that they were treated unfairly by the management team which put a lot of pressure on them. Whats more， my college classmate who was unlucky that she missed the chance of interview due to traffic jams， thereby making her get has stressed about traffic jams always being around our life in a large city. Furthermore in Jiang Su province，which is the southern part of China， their internet source reports，“Not only four children died， but also twenty- four children got injured by the violent crime that occurred in a kindergarten.” The web source stated that it was done by a young person who lost his job and was under high pressure of the society struggling to survive without money in his life. Likewise， there was a student in a university of Yun Nan， who killed five of his roommates. All Chinese were shocked due to the fact that he came from a poor family and had leaded the crime. It seems that he was stressed from school and financial problems and has to face the challenges in life at a daily basis having to be laughed at his roommates and also looked down by people as he is from a poor background. He finally exploded and could not accept anymore stress which lead to the murdering of his roommates that made fun of him everyday for having a poor family. As we can see， the social context has a terrible effect around young peoples life. The stress that one can handle depends on how we depict the situation at hand and how we manage it. Unfortunately for the Chinese student he failed to release his stress in a proper way and he is now facing prison and life sentence behind the bars.

Research has shown that the first major cause of stress is peoples families. Its clear that stress impacts families in a number of ways. According to the newspapers and Television reported： “divorce and relationship as fighting like cats and dogs probably influence people to stress.” Children look up to their parents as role models. The example set by them can have an unsettling effect which may make them extremely restless and stressed. People from a single parent family or divorced family lack the warmth of a loving family. They have difficulties in sharing their problem and might not find any proper way to share it because they are confused in life which eventually leads to stress. However， the lack of family love can be compensated with the care and concern of people around them like friends or even teachers in school. Teachers or friends should be extra sensitive with the changes of behavior among their friends whom have such problems. Having peer support can always be a huge factor in living a joyful life. Teachers should talk to students with certain characteristics like playing truant， or other bad habits in class. Observation and care can help change their mindset and also help them relief their stress. Teachers can sit down and talk to students face to face if they think the child has a lot going on his or her life. It is a great way to understand and communicate with them efficiently and a great stress reliever for them as they have someone to discuss with to manage the fears and problems in life.

Students facing stress react to college in a variety of ways. For instance， some students are stressed due to the abrupt change from high school to college while others think separation from home is a source of stress， although some stress is necessary for personal growth to occur. So its obvious that stress is any situation that evokes negative thoughts and feelings in a person. Its truly that stress is necessary to challenge students to learn. （Neal， 1985） The important reason that made young people stressful is the school. It includes homework and exams. All kinds students have always responded that “I hate school”. Its sure that we have the same feeling about it; even though research shows homework doesnt benefit such young children. Indeed， some schools require preschoolers to tackle academic subjects like reading and writing. In response， a parents movement has arisen – mainly in the middle – and upper – income suburbs in China – protesting that excessive homework and other forms of academic pressure， including so – called high – stakes testing are causing students to have a nervous breakdown. Parents say the added pressure robs them of needed play and family time; also causing them to be stressful. Especially theres lots of pressure to be accepted into the best high school and famous university. With business， state and federal governments looking more towards schools to produce savvier workers and entrepreneurs， some parents say todays kids face unprecedented school – related stress beginning as early as kindergarten， and some students like the younger generation youngsters are working harder than the past generations. Here is an example of test pressure is increasing homework pressure in some schools， says Wendy A. Paterson， an associate professor of education at Buffalo State College， in New York. Nearly two-thirds of San Francisco Bay-area parents say the amount of schoolwork assigned to their children is a cause of stress （Clemmitt，2007）.

In addition， some critics argue that the tests unduly increase pressure on students. In the end， some students did express anxiety about themselves. In at least some classrooms， teachers testing anxiety clearly affects students， says Marshalita Peteson， an associate professor of education at historically black Spelman College in Atlanta （Clemmitt， 2007）. Many students aim to get higher and better grades to be accepted in better schools lead to stress. In big cities especially in China due to the huge population， the competition to be accepted into a school is very fierce. This leads to immense amount of stress and due to the hectic life in big cities; many fail to release it and resorted to committing suicide as the path taken. The rate of death from committing suicides increase annually and caused concerns among the government officials and also families of these children whom are sitting for the tests.

As a result， how should we figure out and reduce these issues of the young peoples stress？ There is some better information to solve them. First， some college now focus less on test scores and more on effort and other factors in admissions decisions， says Pope， “That gives me some hope” that criteria for success are beginning to broaden and that pressure may ease for young people. （Clemmitt， 2007） Class participation and attendance is made the main grading scale and having quizzes more often to help student cope with the studies. This new method of educating students can help them to better understand the materials taught in class and also avoid procrastination by them as they have to take quizzes on a regular basis，keeping them right on top of the topic given in tests.

Living life in a relaxed way is a philosophy， a skill and a way of life. Its also a routine， i.e. getting into the habit of sustaining a calm lifestyle and learning to react to stress in a particular way. Try to avoid getting frustrated and think optimistically. Having a positive mindset can always make difficult task easier and indirectly can reduce stress. Having a proper sleeping cycle can help reduce stress. Exercising on a regular basis can help manage stress too. One very famous practice way to find peace in our mind and soul is through an exercise passed on for centuries called yoga. They may find the idea boring or think it means leading a less exciting or fulfilling life but it is an important way to relax our nerves. Keep relaxing and ignoring stress， young people could try listening to a relaxation tape， taking a hot bath， burning some scented candles， having someone rub their feet or back or going for a walk. Sleep， doing exercise， eating properly， rest， and time management can also make your mood be at the best condition all the time. Attending religious ceremonies can also calm one and can help them find something to look forward to on a regular basis. For example， going to church on Sundays can be a great way of relieving stress， talking to the priests or religious figures for guidance if faced with problems.

To sum up， research and experience has given necessary information to people especially the young people on overcoming some stress in life， and the good ideas which they can avoid if they get stressed in their lives. They should also know that stress management is needed to pass the difficult time or events in our life.

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