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Everyone feels stressed at times, however young or old they are. We feel under pressure, worried, upset, sad and angry or might feel a mixture of uncomfortable feelings we can't quite explain. It’s usually because things in our life are difficult, or because we aren’t getting on well with other people. Most of these stressful things only last a short time – then they get sorted out.

There are many situations that can make you feel stressed for longer. Your schoolwork can pile up, or preparing for exams can seem like it’s taking forever. At school you may be teased or bullied, or have problems with teachers. At home you may have arguments with parents, brothers, sisters or close friends. You may be being bullied at work, or feel you've got too much to do.

Stress can be even worse if, for example, you see your parents fighting, your family is breaking up, or someone close to you is ill, or dies.

We all react in different ways to stress. How you deal with it depends on your personality and on how well cope with things. It also depends on whether you’ve got someone you trust to talk to. Understanding and support from others makes it much easier to cope with stress. Feeling alone makes it hard.

Stress can affect you mentally as well as physically. It’s hard to keep your mind on your work and harder to solve problems. It’s more difficult to cope with frustration and control your temper. You might get depressed. Stress that goes on for a long time can be exhausting and can make you ill.

Sometimes stress gets on top of you. When the situation causing stress goes on and on, and the problems just keep building up you can feel trapped. It feels as if there's no way out and no solution to your problems. If you feel like this, it is important to get help. You also need to get help if:

• You feel that stress is affecting your health.
• You feel so desperate that you think about stopping school, running away, taking an overdose or cutting yourself.
• You feel low, tearful, or feel that lie is not worth living.
• You lose your appetite and find it difficult to sleep.
• You are losing your temper or flying into a rage.
• You have worries, feelings and thoughts that are hard to talk about because you feel people won’t understand you or thing you’re ‘weird’.
• Stress is making you hear voices telling you what to do, or make you behave strangely.

If you are stressed for long period you may get depressed and this could affect your whole life. Signs of depression are:

• Being moody and irritable – easily upset, ‘ratty’ or tearful
• Becoming withdrawn – avoiding friends, family and regular activities.
• Feeling guilty or bad, being self-critical and self-blaming – hating yourself.
• Feeling unhappy, miserable and lonely a lot of the time.
• Feeling hopeless and wanting to die.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Not looking after your personal appearance.
• Difficulty getting off to sleep or waking very early.
• Tiredness and lack of energy.
• Frequent minor health problems such as headaches or stomach-aches.

It is important that if you are feeling stressed or depressed that you contact us so we can put you in touch with someone who can help. Call your nearest Connexions Centre or call 0808 00 13 2 19.

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