Stress affects most, if not all students, especially high schoolers. Many factors play into stress, such as school, friends, family, partners, sports, and personal issues. It can affect several aspects of your life. Sometimes, stress may mean occasionally biting your nails or fidgeting with your pencil in class. Other times, it could be struggling to sleep or feeling nauseous.

Many studies have found that stress levels in teens are becoming increasingly similar to stress in adults, according to American Psychological Association. This could be alarming because of how severe the effects of stress have become. The minor effects of stress are visible in small things. For example, your classmate might crack their knuckles before speaking, or they may avoid eye contact.

Besides the fact that teenage years are a time of change, it’s also a time when teenagers take in more of the world around them, according to Developmental Science. There are several reasons for stress in teenagers, some of them greater than others. An obvious factor would be the topic of college. In high school, we are all thinking of college or what we’ll do after graduating from high school. Especially seniors, who have to apply to colleges and begin preparing for work if they aren’t already working. Deciding what to do after high school causes 83% of teens stress, according to The Washington Post. The experience of hoping for an acceptance letter to come in the mail can be a very stressful time.

Something that caused stress for everyone was an event we all experienced and heard of many times before: COVID-19. It impacted various aspects of life, like teenagers’ plans for after high school. Fifty percent of teens say that the pandemic disrupted their plans for the future, causing even more stress, according to Health Central. When the quarantine first started in 2020, today’s seniors would have been in middle school, and it continued to affect their high school years. Several students would say that they did not learn much during virtual learning, setting them back when they returned to in-person learning. Even a year ago schools were still returning to normal. With the sudden switch from paper and pencil to digital tools, it’s difficult to get used to the new normal.

Several teens find that they take less care of themselves when they’re stressed. Many aspects of self and mental health care are neglected when all you can think of is these things causing you dread. Among them are getting enough sleep, eating habits, hygiene, and just letting yourself relax. Oftentimes, we teens in high school feel that we are constantly being pushed to do more, be more. While it may seem great to be getting so many things done and seeing your grades or performance in sports increase, it isn’t always healthy. Sometimes you have to put yourself first, not your future, not your friends or anyone else, just you.