School stress can be due to a mixture of things. It could be down to moving schools, exams or even making friends. It may feel overwhelming but don’t worry- there are many ways to deal with these feelings!
Here you can find why you may be feeling this way and some useful tips on how to cope with your negative feelings, whether its anxiety, stress or isolation.
Lots of us feel stressed at school and there are many reasons why you may be feeling this way. It could be:
- Exam stress
- Pressures of decision making
- Overwhelmed due to high workload
- Peer pressure
- Feeling lonely or isolated
- Struggling with friendships
These may all feel overwhelming- but not to worry we have lots of ways to help you feel less stress.
Here are our top tips and tricks on how to manage stress:
- Worry journaling:
Write down anything and everything that is causing you stress. Once you have built up a few entries you can start to analyse what may be causing these feelings- is there a common theme to the negative feelings? Consistency is key so make sure to set aside a dedicated amount of time to spend on it each week.
- Breathing exercises:
There are many breathing exercises that you could do. An example is box breathing where you inhale for a count of four and hold for a count of four and then exhale for a count of four and hold for a count of four, whilst visualising moving around each line of a square.
- Meditation or listening to music:
Make sure to feel really focused on the moment and what you are doing. Really listen to each word of the song or focus carefully on your breathing during meditation.
- Doing things that make you feel safe:
Use a stress ball, or bake something, whatever makes you feel happy, safe and in the moment, away from all of the stress and anxiety of school.
- Stress bucket exercise:
Think about what makes you feel anxious or stressed. These are the things that fill up your bucket. If we don’t have a way to empty out some of the stress from that bucket, the bucket will overflow. This is why it’s important to find ways to help reduce this stress. These will be the holes in our bucket which release some of the water before the bucket overflows.
- Sleep routines:
Having a poor sleep routine can cause heightened anxiety and stress as it increases our emotional reactivity. By improving our sleep patterns we can significantly improve our mental health and cognitive functioning.
- Talking to trusted people:
Talking about how we are doing can make a huge impact on how we feel. Sometimes just talking about it makes us feel so much better. We don’t feel as though we carry such a weight on our shoulders and we feel like we are not alone. You can talk to anybody you trust and feel comfortable talking to.
- Positive affirmations:
This can be any short, positive statement designed to challenge negative thoughts and feelings. An example would be ‘I can make a difference’ or ‘I am proud of myself’.
Always remember that there are always other ways to be successful other than school and you are worth so much more than your grades. As long as you’ve tried your hardest, that’s all that matters.
We hope this page has been useful for you! Feel free to check out other pages on our advice hub. For more help, refer to our services:
Counselling for children & young people – we’re here to support anyone struggling with their mental health aged between 11-25 and living in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Hub of Hope – Hub of Hope are the UK’s largest mental health support directory.
Written by Aleena, 17, who has joined us on work experience!