Are you losing sleep or not eating well?0:19
Do you feel that your schedule is too busy or that there is too much expected of you?0:22
If so, it is likely that you are suffering from stress, and you are not alone.0:27
Julia wakes up to the sound of her alarm every morning, has a quick shower, and runs to catch the bus to school.0:38
She finishes lessons at 4 PM and gets the bus home and spends 2 hours doing homework.0:45
On Monday and Thursday evenings, she has Spanish classes.0:51
And on Wednesdays and Fridays she goes to music lessons.0:54
Lately she has been having headaches and finds it hard to concentrate in class.0:58
Unfortunately, Julia is just another one of the many teenagers who suffer from stress.1:05
Recent studies show that almost every teenager in the USA has felt some sort of stress and that many are seriously stressed out.1:10
In fact, it is believed that up to 33% of teenagers feel stress on a daily basis.1:19
While 67% feel stressed out at least once a week.1:24
Not surprisingly, 78% of the teenagers interviewed said that school was the main source of their stress.1:29
So why is stress so widespread, and what can be done to prevent it or lessen its effects?1:35
Stress is the feeling of being under emotional pressure and is the body's way of attempting to deal with a tough situation.1:43
It can be caused by anything from a real physical threat, such as bullying, to a simple fear of making a presentation in front of the class, and can affect how you think, feel, behave, and how your body functions.1:50
When the body feels stressed, it produces hormones to make you more alert and capable of handling the situation.2:03
These hormones speed up the metabolism by increasing breathing and heart rate and raising blood pressure.2:10
A reasonable amount of stress is good for the body.2:18
It keeps you on your toes and improves your performance.2:21
However, frequent stress causes the nervous system to remain on alert and to produce excessive amounts of stress hormones.2:25
This can have an adverse effect on your performance, leave you feeling tired and weakened, and eventually cause health problems such as acne, high blood pressure, depression, or other diseases.2:32
Obviously, managing stress should be on everyone's mind.2:43
One of the best ways to minimize stress is by doing moderate exercise.2:48
While exercising, the heart increases blood flow and pumps more oxygen around the body, reducing levels of the stress hormone cortisol and releasing adrenaline and endorphins, or the feel-good chemicals.2:53
This leads to reduced stress levels, a feeling of well-being, and contributes to better all-round health.3:06
Experts agree that cardiovascular or aerobic exercise helps most in stress relief.3:13
Just 10 minutes of moderate exercise is enough to improve your mood, but by doing 30 minutes of exercise a day, you're likely to gain all the benefits of keeping fit and feeling good while improving your chances of coping3:19
So take time to relax, but instead of slouching on the couch, why don't you get out there and make yourself feel good?3:32
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