When we were younger, everyone was friends. Life was easy, there was no judgement, and things were good. As we grew older, there came new stresses we never learned how to deal with. High school started, and your friends became distant. School work is more stressing and life at home might no longer be as easy as before. There is pressure on kids found everywhere. There’s pressure to fit in, look a certain way to be cool and to avoid judgement. Your personality and your interests must be refined and you must enjoy certain things. There is a competition in school work, you must be successful to graduate and get into a good school; you must be the smartest to be noticed by schools. You will always be reminded you are not as smart as “that kid” and that you never compare. Or maybe you are the smart kid, and you find that you are hated for it. There is pressure your family may put on you. They want you to be excelling in school to ensure you make something of yourself. You also have the sports and instruments you play or work you have on the weekends nagging you at side, reminding you that this is also something you must be good at and must practice or continue. Teens find themselves going through these different struggles in life; they become scared and alone, disoriented. We, as teens, have responsibilities and pressure that seem to build up and grow over time. This can become overwhelming and destructive if not dealt with properly. It’s natural to want to succeed in every area; friends, family, school, sports, work, social statuses; but if doesn’t work out it can lead to destruction.

We are all different, and our mental capacity to deal with what is thrown at us in our society is unique. Some people are lucky enough to have people that support them and help them through it all. Some people breakdown. They breakdown and they may grow stronger from it, or they may let it continue destroying them. Our society is so focused on statuses and how good you are at something; this pressure scares kids. They don’t feel they can be free to be themselves and they never get a break from the worry of stress. Its natural to crave an escape from this all. Even for a limited period. This outlet is usually drugs. Drugs give you an overdose of dopamine, a rush of happiness and carefree. The problem of this stress less time is that it can cause future stress. Possibly, you forget to do your homework, your family finds out and is disappointed, your coach finds out and kicks you off the team, your brain becomes dependent on drugs and you find you need it to feel happiness again. Self-medicating yourself with drugs, thinking they can help you with your issues in life, is toxic. You may feel great momentarily, put you are setting yourself up for further destruction.

I think teenagers need to learn to love themselves and surround themselves with those who love and support them for being themselves. By removing toxic relationships with those who judge them and have conditions to their acceptance, they allow themselves to find those who can help lift some of the pressures and stresses. Then, they can free up one of their worries, they no longer need to worry about appearance and can focus on sports, school, etc.