Stress is part of human life, and it can impact the individual’s life depending on how they react to the issues they face. Thus, the above may result from activities that one engages in, which may lead to anxiety and depression, such as getting married, buying a home, or failing or succeeding in school work. In return, the human body responds by developing different coping mechanisms. These are behaviors, thoughts, and emotions used as strategies in reaction to stressful activities (Wang, 2020). These activities may be harmful or beneficial to the individual based on how the body responds to them. The coping mechanisms are based on various aspects and are classified into; problem-based, appraisal-based, emotion-based and occupation-based. All those are approaches used in facing stress. Stress coping mechanisms are approached using either healthy or unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Healthy coping mechanisms are methods used to relieve the body from stress using alternatives that do not influence the body negatively. These approaches help human beings relax and take control of their bodies, thus, avoiding pressure causing problems. As a result, the above procedures do not affect the body negatively. Instead, they help an individual to focus on solving the issues in positive ways. For instance, one can engage in meditation, exercising, listening to music, playing games and musical instruments, reading and engaging in talks as a way of staying healthy and averting stressful situations. Such activities are advantageous because they minimize health risks, improve flexibility in learning new skills, and lower anxiety levels, depression and anxiety.
However, there are unhealthy coping mechanisms too in stress-relieving. They are formed through negative behaviors and may result in addiction, anxiety disorders and may cause harm to human health. These harmful handling procedures may include isolating oneself from others, drug abuse as alternative ways of shifting focus, excessive sleeping, avoiding the real issue, eating disorders, and spending compulsively. As a result, the lifestyle of the victim changes immensely and becomes complicated to manage.
Therefore, teenagers should be advised to seek help from adults by engaging in conversations about their troubles. They should eat well and exercise more frequently to involve their bodies in productive undertakings without worry. Eating well dictates having a balanced diet that will boost teenagers’ immunity and energize them for the exercises. Young people should also consider engaging in exercises they love, such as entertainment—all these aims at protecting the youth from negative influences of stress.
Reference
Wang, X., Hegde, S., Son, C., Keller, B., Smith, A., & Sasangohar, F. (2020). Investigating mental health of US college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Cross-sectional survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), e22817. Web.