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High Levels Of Stress Among Teens

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According to data collected by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the leading cause of all deaths (18.4%) following accidental injuries for American adolescents (Heron). To visualize this information, imagine walking through a grave yard for adolescents and knowing every ten steps walked you passed, on average, two people who committed suicide. But the question still stands: why? The answer lies in the fact adolescents are experiencing high levels of stress due to high school and the associated pressures and therefore are demonstrating damaging symptoms as an effect. Many of these experts appeared in a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association. This published survey concluded that “during the school year, teens say their stress level is higher than levels reported by adults. […] Teens report that their stress […] far exceeds what they believe to be healthy […] and tops adults averages reported stress levels (5.8 for teens versus 5.1 for adults) (“American”). As one can imagine, the brains of developed adults are designed to handle the stress placed upon them; however, teenager brains are not made to endure nearly the same caliber of strain and certainly not more. Extremely concerning, this information highlights that an unhealthy amount of stress is being placed on top of adolescents today when compared to adults. Confirmed by a four step study published by New York University when researchers say, “Nearly half [...] of all

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