The average high school student experiences an enormous amount of anxiety every day. The constant pressure of keeping up their grades in order to pass that certain grade or to be able to play sports, trying to compete with teammates to be in that top spot for their sports team, keeping up with their social life, even being surrounded by peer pressure, as well as trying to make your parents proud, all while finding out who you are as a person and where you want to go in life. Making choices that can lead them down a certain path, making mistakes, and ultimately learning from them.
High school students are shouldered with a lot to think about and do on a daily basis. Trying to navigate life the best they can and also look after their own mental health. Anxiety is increasing with each generation, getting worse and worse to the point where an average high school student’s anxiety matches that of a mental patient in the 1950’s.
According to Psychology Today, the recent increase is due to the increased chance of wanting to keep up with what society believes where you should be at in life, look like, or even be with. These unrealistic ideals are driving teens to constantly feel like they are not good enough or they have to drive themselves so hard to the point they forget to take care of themselves in the process. As a teen is it vital to take care of yourself and your mental health in order to be the better person you want to be or for the people around you.
There are ways to better your mental health:
- You are allowed to give yourself permission to take a mental health day to let yourself breathe and give your brain a break to relax and not think, to get away from everything for a little bit.
- Give yourself a break from all the screens and social media if they are bringing negative energy in life and let yourself not worry about what’s going on in other people’s lives, but focus more on your own.
- Appreciate the little wins in life just as much as the big ones because every win counts towards your goals in life.
