How to Know If Your Teenager Is Exhausted and Stressed

As a parent, you need to know when your teen is exhausted and stressed. This way, you'll be able to help them.

Not only adults can feel exhausted and stressed. In fact, nowadays, teens are also under a lot of pressure, more so than in previous generations. But the problem is that if your teenager is exhausted or anxious, they may not have the necessary strategies to deal with these types of situations. This, in turn, can make them sad and even lead to depression.

Signs that your teenager is exhausted and stressed

As a parent, it’s important to pay attention to these warning signs that could indicate that your teenager is exhausted and stressed. In these cases, it’d be important to help them deal with these emotions so they can learn to manage them in the best possible way.

• Insomnia. Something’s not right with your teenager if they’re not getting good sleep. Teach your teen to limit screen time on electronic devices before bed to make sure they get a good night’s sleep.
• More anxiety. The inability to relax can be extremely frustrating, especially during downtime. If your teenager is generally restless and anxious, exhaustion could be the reason behind it.

• Change of eating habits. It may be from overeating or not eating enough. The fact of the matter is, a change in eating habits can mean that your teen is feeling emotionally drained. Eating unhealthy foods can cause continuous mood swings and lead to additional bad or undesirable behaviors.
• Risky actions. If your teenager is experimenting with drugs or alcohol for the first time, or if you suspect that they might be using substances more frequently, they could be using them as a way to escape from stress.
• Impulsive or emotional behaviors. Rather than immediately blaming the hormones for their mood swings, delve a little deeper, because exhaustion might be the culprit. If your teen is experiencing intense periods of anger, frustration, sadness, or other emotions, it’s probably time to talk to them about stress.

How to help your exhausted and stressed teen

Now that you know how to notice if your teenager is exhausted and stressed, learning how to help them is essential to make sure they start feeling good again. One strategy that tends to work for many parents is to ask your teen if they know someone in their class who shows symptoms of exhaustion.

Addressing issues with your child in this way allows them to respond openly, without fear of retaliation or consequences, such as, “I can’t tell my mother that I’m too tired because she’ll take away my phone at night.”

Giving your teen a chance to talk about the symptoms and then chatting with you about how they’d handle that symptom is the best way to keep them involved in the topic without risking them emotionally drifting away from you.

If your teenager admits that a friend is frantically trying to balance their personal life with their academic life, give them strategies to deal with the situation. Can they eliminate some activities? Should they reduce their screen time so they can continue participating in said activities? Have they made a schedule to be aware of how much free time they have and how to better take advantage of it?

Rather than overly criticizing your teen for their behavior if they show any of the warning signs we shared above, use it as an opportunity to talk about time management, how to set priorities, and how to de-stress.

Better time management if your teenager is exhausted and stressed

One of the most important things parents can do to try to ease the pressure on their teenager is to help them make decisions regarding time management. Being a teen is hard. There are millions of new experiences and pressures, along with a very limited amount of overall life experience.

Talk to your teen about the necessary measures that will allow them to reorganize their lives. This way, they’ll learn how to better manage their time to avoid exhaustion.

You can also explain your ways of doing things, in case it helps them in their daily life. Explaining your own examples to them will help strengthen your emotional bond with your teen. In addition, they’ll feel understood and accepted. It’s very important to avoid judging or criticizing your teen. Remember that your children need you to help them, not judge them!