April is stress awareness month. As we come back to school full time from lockdown many of us are feeling stress in different ways, whether it is to do with assessments, future plans or just adjusting and dealing with life at a different pace.

Experiencing stress at difficult times is a normal thing, but it can lead us to feeling overwhelmed  if you are finding things difficult to manage then there are some resources below which may help.

Helping Yourself

When we start to feel stressed, we can forget to do the things we enjoy and the things that make us feel better. We can become very focussed on what is wrong and feel helpless to change it. There are lots of great self help guides and supports on line but wading through them can be just another thing to do. Below are a few good ones which will hopefully take the stress out of trying to manage your stress.

This guide from The Children’s Society looks really good for tips and support. It has been developed recently so takes into account the way people are feeling post lockdown.
Young People’s Well-being Guide for Stressful Situations

If you are more visual then this video from Dr Shelia Redfern also gives some tips on how to manage stress when waiting to hear from exam results, or applications for college, university or for a job.
Advice on managing stress at important moments video

Stress about Assessments

For those of you who are about to sit assessments, it can feel particularly stressful. We are acutely aware that the impact of lockdown has meant that there is a lot of assessment are coming late in the year rather than it having been spread out. When things are uncertain and there is a lot of change it can lead to a feeling of not being in control ams this is very stressful.

This guide has been put together by Student Minds specifically to help students to keep things in perspective, get good habits ams avoid bad, get organised and get support from family and friends.  There are also lots of useful links in the guide so if you are in S4, S5 or S6 it is well worth checking out. Student Guide to Managing Exam Stress.

And Finally

if you are feeling stressed and would like to talk to someone then please see your guidance teacher to discuss the options  we realise how challenging things are and there are adults available who can help and support you to work through it. This might be in terms of pointing you towards some helpful guides and resources, as above, or arranging for you to work with someone one to one or in a small group. We are here to help so please let us know if you are finding it hard.

 

 

 

E-Portfolio tag: Health and wellbeing