Everyone has experienced stress at some point in their lives, whether in the run up to exams, before a driving test, or around a big change in your life.

Stress can either be caused by our thoughts and anxieties, or by events and experiences.

What is stress?

Stress is the feeling of being under too much pressure and feeling unable to cope with situations.

People are affected by stress in different ways.

A little bit of stress can be a good thing as it triggers the 'fight or flight' response which can help you to deal with certain pressures.
But when the stress builds up and hangs around, we need to learn how to relax and de-stress.

Stress can be brought on by exams. For help managing exam stress see our advice page 'planning for exams'.

How does stress affect me?

If you're feeling stressed, you might experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, which include:

• Trouble sleeping
• Struggling to concentrate
• Change in eating habits
• Feeling irritable or angry
• Feeling unable to cope
• Headaches
• Muscle tension

What can I do to stop feeling so stressed?

Stress is an warning sign that something in your life might need to change.

To reduce the stress you're feeling, you might need to think about whether there are things you could do differently.

For example if you're going to school, working in the evenings, and revising for exams all at once, this could be causing stress.
It might not be as simple as this, and you might have to think hard about what could be causing you to feel this way.

It might help to write down all the different things in your life that you feel pressured by, to work out if there is something you could change to help ease the stress. 

Try ChildLine's Wall of Expression - Write or draw what's bothering you on the wall, then knock it all down and watch your worries crumble away!

Try The Mix's Stressheads game - Helps you to relax.

Watch the MTV video above called 'Advice on coping with everyday stress'.

The MTV video asks young people at a festival how they coped with everyday stresses like exam stress and how to chill out when you're stressed.

Tips for de-stressing

There are things you can do to help reduce stress, both instantly, and over a period of time. Here are some top tips:

• Breathe - to relax your mind and body, try out some breathing exercises.
• Exercise - you don't have to spend all day in the gym, anything to get your muscles moving can help to boost your mood, clear your thoughts and reduce stress - it's science!
• Sleep - try to go to bed and wake up at a similar time each day to regulate your sleeping hours.
• Laugh - laughing is proven to relieve stress, so stick on a comedy, catch up with a friend, or watch some funny animal clips on YouTube.
• Talk - it can help to talk things through with someone you trust, even if it's just to offload while the other person listens.
• Say No! - if you have too much to do and everyone seems to want a piece of you, it's okay to say no or turn something down. It might help to make some lists and prioritise what needs to be done, and what can wait.

Visit the Mind website for more information on the signs of stress and tips and advice on how to manage stress.

Find some emotional wellbeing support?

The below support services offer free, confidential support on health and wellbeing issues if you need to talk or get some advice:

• Emotional Wellbeing Hub – Confidential information, advice and support if you're worried about yours or a friends mental health.  
• Just One Norfolk - Mental health support services for young people in Lowestoft and Waveney.
• Kooth - A free, safe and confidential online service where you can find someone to talk to when you need it. 
• ChatHealth Service - To speak to a school nurse about any health issue.  
• Suffolk Young People's Health Project (4YP) - To speak with a 4YP youth worker for confidential advice and support. Drop in or call them. 
• Suffolk Wellbeing Service - Provides a range of support for common emotional wellbeing issues, such as low mood, depression or stress.