Table Of ContentLIVING
with
STRESS
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Also in the
Teen’s Guides series
Living with Alcoholism and Drug Addiction
Living with Allergies
Living with Anxiety Disorders
Living with Asthma
Living with Cancer
Living with Diabetes
Living with Depression
Living with Eating Disorders
Living with the Internet and Online Dangers
Living with Obesity
Living with Peer Pressure and Bullying
Living with Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Living with Skin Conditions
Living with Sports Injuries
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LIVING
with
STRESS
Allen R. Miller, Ph.D.
with Susan Shelly
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Living with Stress
Copyright © 2010 by Allen R. Miller, Ph.D.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information contact:
Facts On File, Inc.
An imprint of Infobase Publishing, Inc.
132 West 31st Street
New York NY 10001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Miller, Allen R.
Living with stress / by Allen R. Miller with Susan Shelly.
p. cm. — (Teen’s guides)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8160-7887-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8160-7887-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 978-1-4381-3140-5 (e-book)
1. Stress management—Popular works. 2. Stress in adolescence—Popular works. I. Shelly,
Susan. II. Title.
RA785.M525 2010
616.9'8—dc22 2009032843
Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities
for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales
Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755.
You can fnd Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfle.com
Excerpts included herewith have been reprinted by permission of the copyright holders; the
author has made every effort to contact copyright holders. The publishers will be glad to
rectify, in future editions, any errors or omissions brought to their notice.
Text design by Annie O’Donnell
Composition by Hermitage Publishing Services
Cover printed by Art Print, Taylor, Pa.
Book printed and bound by Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group, York, Pa.
Date printed: June 2010
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
CONTENTS
■ ■ 1 What Is Stress? 1
■ ■ 2 What Causes Stress? 9
■ ■ 3 Why Teens Are at Risk for Stress-Related
Problems 19
■ ■ 4 How Stress Affects You Physically 32
■ ■ 5 How Stress Affects You Emotionally 41
■ ■ 6 Long-term Physical Effects of Stress 50
■ ■ 7 Long-term Psychological Effects of Stress 62
■ ■ 8 Addressing Your Stress Problem with Lifestyle
Changes 72
■ ■ 9 When Lifestyle Changes Aren’t Enough 92
■ ■ 10 Helping Others Deal with Stress 110
■ ■ 11 Paying for Care 120
Appendix: Associations and Resources Related
to Stress 129
Glossary 140
Read More About It 146
Index 149
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1
1
What Is Stress?
Sometimes Lara likes to just sit and remember what
life was like when she was a kid instead of a 16-year-old high school
junior. She remembers riding her bike in her neighborhood and
spending time with an older couple who lived next door. Her mom
and dad used to take her to the movies or to visit her cousins, or she
and her mom and brother would go on camping trips with her mom’s
friends and their kids.
SThese days, though, Lara’s mom is too busy working and going
to meetings to talk to her, and Lara would rather be with her friends
anyway, at least when they’re all getting along and somebody isn’t
spreading lies on Facebook about somebody else.
Lara is also worried about her grades this year, because she needs
a scholarship to go to college, given that there’s a chance her dad
could lose his job. And then what would she do? Live at home with
her parents while her friends go off to college?
Plus, something happened with her dad’s medicine recently and
his diabetes got really bad; he had to be in the hospital over the
holiday season. He seems to be okay, but Lara is always afraid that
something else is going to happen to him. Sometimes Lara wishes
more than anything that she was little again.
Lara, like many other teens, is experiencing a lot of stress on differ-
ent levels. She worries about her father’s health and whether he’ll be
able to keep his job, and she feels resentful that her mother doesn’t
have more time to spend with her. She enjoys hanging out with her
friends, but she doesn’t like that they sometimes fi ght and are mean
1
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2 Living with Stress
to one another. And she worries about her grades, afraid that her
entire future depends on what happens in school this year.
That’s a lot of stress for anyone to handle, and Lara is not alone.
A recent study at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor revealed
that one-third of teens report feeling stressed out on a daily basis, and
two thirds feeling stressed at least once a week. Most of us hear a
lot about stress. Like Lara, you and your friends probably say things
like “I am so stressed out about this paper I have to write,” or “I
had a really stressful situation with my boyfriend last weekend.” You
might hear your parents talk about being stressed over their fi nancial
situation or because the car isn’t working right. Even children can
experience stress when they don’t get what they want or their lives
are disrupted in some way. The Internet, magazines, and newspapers
are loaded with articles about stress, and advertisements for products
that claim to relieve stress. But what is stress, really?
Stress is how your body responds to pressure caused by a particu-
lar situation, such as a test, that requires you to adjust or respond.
Stress can refer both to the stimulus that causes you to react—such
as the test—and to your reaction to that stimulus. For example, if you
feel yourself getting anxious and nervous about a test you have this
afternoon, the test is a stressor—a situation that is leading you to feel
a particular way. Your reaction to the test you have this afternoon also
can be thought of as stress. You are worried about the test, and you’re
exhibiting stress by feeling anxious and nervous.
When someone asks you what stress means to you, you might
think about term papers, peer pressure, teasing in school, relationship
issues, parents, a younger brother or sister, and a number of other
things. Everyone experiences stress, and stress is not necessarily a bad
thing. If you didn’t feel a degree of stress regarding the test, you might
be inclined to just sit around and watch TV rather than study for it. If
getting into a fi ght with your mom didn’t cause you to feel stress, you
probably wouldn’t care so much about your relationship with her.
It’s normal to feel stress. In fact, in our fast-paced society, where
many people feel they’re expected to achieve well in academics,
fi nancial and social standings, family and other relationships, careers,
and so forth, it’s practically impossible not to feel stress.
GOOD STRESS AND BAD STRESS
Good stress may sound like an oxymoron, but it’s true that a small
amount of stress can actually be a positive thing. Did you ever per-
form in the school play, or run the 100-meter race during a really close
track event against your school’s top rival? How about standing up in
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What Is Stress? 3
Stressed? You Are Not Alone
It’s important to remember that when you feel stressed about some-
thing, you’re not alone. The majority of teens, at least on occasion,
experience stress related to school, society, family, and peers. Teenag-
ers are notoriously hard on themselves, worrying that they won’t fi t in;
they won’t succeed in school; they’ll never get a boyfriend/girlfriend;
they won’t have the right clothes, or hair, or house; their friends won’t
like them anymore. The list goes on and on. All of these issues, and
many others, can cause intense feelings of stress. Knowing that others
your age are feeling stressed about exactly the same sorts of issues
that you are might not make you feel less stressed, but at least you
know you’re in good company.
front of the class to present your book report, or waiting to hear back
whether or not someone would go to the holiday dance with you?
If you’ve been through any of these situations, or similar ones,
you’ve no doubt experienced stress. This short-term kind of stress,
though, can be thought of as good stress, because it produces energy
that keeps you alert and ready to do what you need to do. In cases
like these, stress is useful, and sometimes absolutely necessary. If a
car pulls out in front of you and you have to slam on the brakes to
avoid hitting it, it’s stress that helped you to react quickly and do
what was necessary to prevent a potentially serious accident.
Bad stress, on the other hand, occurs when a stressful situation is
acute or continues over time. This could happen if your parents aren’t
getting along and you’re always on alert, waiting for them to get into
another fi ght. It could be that you’ve moved to a new school and have
become a target for teasing and bullying from kids in your classes.
These sorts of situations cause chronic or long-term stress, which can
produce very negative results. You’ll learn more about the physical
and emotional effects of stress in later chapters.
HOW STRESS WORKS
Stress, as it refers to your body’s response to particular situations,
occurs when something happens that demands extra awareness and
