With school starting, many teens are already feeling pressure. It is important to be aware that there will always be events, people, situations that will stress you out and those things are out of your control. The one thing you are able to control is your reaction to the events, people and/or situations. Here are a few helpful suggestions to use to battle your anxiety.
1) Try to think of all of the negative or “unhealthy” thoughts you often have. Then, try to come up with as many healthy or positive thoughts you can think of to counteract the negative ones.
2) Play through the entire scenario in your mind. Let’s say you are stressed about an upcoming exam. You study hard and feel you are prepared, however you still stress about it. Think through the scenario. Think of the worst that would happen. Would you fail the test? Is this a logical thought? Have you failed many tests? If so, talk to your parents/teachers about getting extra help in the subject. If you usually do well on tests, is it logical to think you would fail? If not, try to reassure yourself that you most likely will do well whether you worry about it or not.
3) Realize it’s okay to be stressed. Accepting yourself and your feelings will help reduce your negative self-talk. Feelings are feelings and, as long as you can be okay and stop beating yourself up, your stress will hopefully be reduced. Try to take the spotlight off of those negative thoughts and put it, instead, on the positive things that happened to you today.
Important Notice: The information presented above is provided for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for consulting a psychologist or other mental health professional to discuss your unique situation.
