Addressing Anxiety and Stress in Students
Being a teenager can be really stressful! It was stressful enough for us when we grew up before cell phones, social media, and constant plugged-in information. For students now, the stressors are multiplied! As youth pastors, we have the wonderful and difficult task of guiding students as they deal with anxiety and stress in their lives. Here are some tips on how we can better help students in our ministry handle stress.
Watch for Signs of Stress
The first thing we can do is to know the signs to watch for in students who show big swings in stress or anxiety. Withdrawal from activities, declining academic performance, irritability, or changes in sleep and eating patterns are all signs of stress. Also, watch for drastic changes in friend groups. Stress can bubble up and come out in anger or distancing in relationships. It’s also a good idea to equip your leaders and volunteers to know these signs. You can’t watch everybody all the time, but if you have leaders who are trained, it will help you identify students dealing with anxiety.
Provide Tools for Dealing with Anxiety
Help students by giving them practical tools they need and can use to manage stress. From planning their day to deep breathing exercises and repeating spiritual truths to themselves, we can encourage students to lean on their faith during difficult times. We should remind them that by incorporating prayer, scripture reading, and worship into their daily routines, they can mitigate the negative effects of anxiety and stress. It’s also good for us to remind students that they might need outside help and that talking to a therapist or counselor about their stress is a great idea!
Invite a Mental Health Professional to Talk at Youth Group
Since we have a platform to speak to students, why not invite a professional to come in and tell students what they know about stress and how they can handle it? If you have a mental health professional who goes to your church, invite them to speak at youth groups and help destigmatize the idea of stress and anxiety. How great would it be for students to hear from a Christian perspective how they can deal with stress from somebody whose job is to help people manage anxiety? By giving them a platform, we can help students connect with someone who can offer them real help!
What other tips do you have for helping students address anxiety and stress?
