Stress hits us all, and our mental health has a lot to do with how well we deal with it. Some ways of coping with stress are better than others, and if we have the tools to deal with stress we can build mental resilience – the ability to bounce back from difficult experiences.
What does mental health look like?
Let’s start with the basics. Here’s what it means to be mentally healthy:
- You have healthy coping strategies
- You practice self-care, actively caring for your own physical, mental, and emotional well-being
- You practice positive self-talk – what you think and say about yourself and your life is positive and hopeful
- You’re engaged in what’s going on around you
- You feel motivated in life
- You nurture relationships with positive communication
Mental health is a spectrum; just because you aren’t all of these things doesn’t make you mentally ill. We all have things we can work on.
Many young people do, however, experience mental illness.
- 15-20% of adolescents have a diagnosable mental health disorder
- The most common mental illness among adolescents is anxiety (6.5%)
- 20-30% of adolescents have one major depressive episode before adulthood
There’s a lot we can do to build stronger mental health. A huge factor in good mental health is building a strong foundation by getting the basics right: sleeping well, eating healthfully, and exercising regularly. Another is choosing healthy responses to stress.
Why is it important for young people to develop good coping skills?
The first reason is simple: the earlier we learn how to take care of ourselves, the better our lives will be for a longer amount of time. Young people also have brains that are developing quickly, and are more likely to adapt to coping mechanisms – whether they’re beneficial or destructive.
What is stress?
Stress is how our bodies respond to danger or high demand. It’s a natural response, and it’s designed to protect us from threats and help us reach our goals, but sometimes it can be overwhelming. It’s a natural part of life, but it’s not healthy to be stressed out for a long time. Finding healthy ways to cope with stress is essential.
Healthy ways to cope with stress include…
- Problem solving. Why are you feeling the way you’re feeling? How can you change your situation, or how you feel about it?
- Exercise
- Breathing. Doing breathing exercises, or even just taking a few deep breaths can be very helpful.
- Music/singing/dancing
- Meditation/Yoga
- Connecting with nature
- Having fun
Self-talk, the things we think and say about ourselves, has a lot to do with how we experience the world. Negative self-talk increases stress. Positive self-talk helps you calm down and control stress. With practice, you can learn to turn negative thoughts into positive ones. For example:
Negative
- “I can’t do this.”
- “Everything is going wrong.”
- “I hate it when this happens.”
Positive
- “I’ll do the best I can.”
- “I can handle things if I take one step at a time.”
- “I know how to deal with this; I’ve done it before.”
Seeking support
Seeking support from a knowledgeable, trustworthy adult can help you build strategies to manage your stress or anxiety and improve your mental health. This person may be…
- Your parent/guardian
- Your teacher or guidance counsellor
- A counsellor, social worker, psychologist, family doctor, or other resource in your community
With support, we can develop strategies to manage stress and improve mental health. Help might come in the form of breathing exercises, mindfulness, a plan to improve sleep or nutrition, talk therapy to change negative thoughts, or other forms of therapy, including medication.
Check out our HealthyMinds app for iOS.
Healthy Minds is a problem-solving tool to help deal with emotions and cope with stress. The goal: Keeping your mind healthy!
If you need immediate help for a mental health crisis or feel like a loved one is danger, call 911 right away.