Talk to any teenager in Wake County about how they are feeling about school, and they are bound to mention stress. With the statistics of mental illness in teenagers skyrocketing, the influence of stress is under question. Millbrook has recently taken action in helping teenagers by talking to seniors about mental health and stress. The current statistic from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill is 1 in 5 children between the ages of 13-18 have or will experience a mental illness some time in their lives, and on average teenagers rate their stress at a 5.8 out of 10 and adults rating their stress at an average of 5.1 out of 10 as told by the American Psychological Association. Where is all this stress coming from? With college admissions continuously getting more competitive, expecting students to juggle high level courses, multiple extracurriculars, and stellar GPA’s, college has an effect on students and stress levels. Sophomore Jonathan Unkerkoffler says, “Stress affects my life by causing me to spend loads of time worrying about the little things.”

 So how do we deal with this? It starts on a small scale with each individual learning how to maintain and control stress. Everyone has different stressors, or what causes a person stress, so it is important to find the personal stressor in order to take control of it and make changes to not let it take over. Sophomore Anna Conger says, “I use tea and music to destress; they relax me.” The hardest part of staying stress-free is balancing school, extracurriculars, taking care of yourself and sleep. One popular method is the 8/8/8 method which recommends that you spend eight hours a day sleeping, eight hours working or doing school work and eight hours taking care of yourself and doing activities you enjoy. Some teenagers say this can be difficult because we already spend seven hours at school, leaving one hour for homework, so this may need to be adjusted to your needs.

 Even if the 8/8/8 method is not for you, be sure to keep the same schedule everyday to keep chaos to a minimum and have as organized a day as possible, which is an important factor when dealing with stress. Keep your workspace clean. This is good because it is one less thing to clutter your mind when trying to work. Be sure to always backup your work; this gives you  one less thing to worry about and just good advice. Another important tip is keeping a planner with all of your important dates and assignments to stay on top of assignments and not end up a forgetting about tests and homework.  The most important, and probably most forgotten, aspect of staying in control of stress is personal care. Taking care of yourself is important to mental and physical health and overall happiness, and should always be the top priority. Teenagers need between seven to ten hours of sleep every night; sleep is an important part of functioning in daily life and should not be ignored. Stress can seem overwhelming sometimes, but by staying ahead of assignments and prioritizing you can knock out unnecessary stress and stay healthy.