All teenagers will experience bouts of overwhelm during their adolescence. The teenage years are filled with challenging lessons, immense physical growth, surging hormones, a newfound need for autonomy and all else needed to assist a young person’s development into adulthood. Societal norms and the subliminal pressures associated with American culture can be severely overwhelming to young people. There are a variety of factors that could contribute to a young person feeling overwhelmed. Some common teenage stressors, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry include:
The internal and external pressures placed on adolescents can be crushing. Often teenagers internalize increased stress when encountered with a situation that is perceived as painful, difficult, and/ or dangerous. When teenagers become overloaded with stress it can lead to a multitude of adverse effects.
Every young person is unique and will process and express his or her feelings of overwhelm differently. The specific combination of signs exhibited will differ from teen to teen, as will the duration and severity of signs presented. The American Psychological Association (APA) provides the following examples of common signs an overwhelmed teen may exhibit:
Some teenagers’ express their feelings of overwhelm by becoming socially and emotionally withdrawn. Many young people are forced to navigate the challenges of adolescence using outdated coping mechanisms that are ineffective, which often result in overwhelming emotions.
Teenagers enter adolescence with the emotional coping mechanisms discovered in pre-adolescent years. These methods are often quickly found to be ineffective, leaving teens with few, if any useful emotional navigation tools. As a parent there are several tips that can help you help your teen learn to manage his or her stress, so as to reduce or avoid becoming overwhelmed. These can include:
Learning a variety of different coping mechanisms and various stress management skill can be advantageous for any teen. All humans can benefit from learning a variety of stress management skills, as some previously relied upon tactics may become suddenly useless and ineffective with little warning.
Seeking help is never easy, but you are not alone! If you or someone you know is in need of mental health treatment, we strongly encourage you to reach out for help as quickly as possible. It is not uncommon for many mental health difficulties to impact a person for the long term. The earlier you seek support, the sooner you and your loved ones can return to happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.
Our admissions team is available to answer any general questions regarding mental health issues, treatment, and/or specific questions about the program at Pacific Teen Treatment and how we might be able to help your family. We can be reached by phone 24/7 at 800-531-5769. You can also contact us via email at info@pacifictrtc.com or through our contact form.
PTT provides treatment for the contemporary issues facing teenagers in today’s world utilizing a family focused and collaborative approach providing individualized care for teens and their families. Licensed by the State of California, Community Care Licensing Division #198209636
At a time when most residential programs are affiliated with large healthcare corporations or backed by private equity, Pacific Teen Treatment is proudly a private, family-owned operation.
