Almost everyone in high school has dealt with stress hanging over their heads. The question being brought up nowadays is who has more stress, adults or students, and who handles stress the best?   

Over the years, students have been feeling more stressed due to school and the many activities they participate in while adults feel pressure from their jobs.

“I would say we all put more stress on ourselves than we have in the past,” biology teacher Deserae Good said. “I see students more stressed than I ever remember, but sometimes for good reason: competition. Adults stress over small, simple things that could be overlooked if we focused on the things that mattered.”

Stress in students is commonly caused from multitasking and forgetting to prioritize, leading to procrastination.

“I would say that students encounter stress everyday, and most of it is because they have too much to do in too little time,” english teacher Jeanna Sutton said. “I think they try to do too many activities. Many adults — myself included — suffer from this same stress-related problem.”

Trying to juggle extracurricular activities and school takes a toll on this generation of teenagers, but add society’s opinion into the mix, and it piles even more onto the causes of a teenager’s stress.

Teenagers are not the only ones who deal with stress from trying to please people; adults sometimes do the same thing.  Some adults feel the pressure of trying to please their boss all of the time. Continually thinking of someone else’s opinion more than their own leads to anxiety, which could even lead to people not performing to their full potential.   

Although the agony of trying to fit in is a tremendous cause of teenagers and adults stress, so is fear. Students have to worry everyday about their grades so that they can hopefully get into a great college.  

Adults have to be concerned about their future as well, making sure they keep their job and that they are raising their kids well.

Stress has negative effects on those who are affected.

“I think some students stress so much that many times they don’t sleep well,” Sutton said. “Then they get to school and they can’t think because they are so tired.” 

Loss of sleep is not the only thing that affects both students and adults who undergo stress.

“There is so much research that shows the chemical differences in hormones levels and neurotransmitters of those that experience high levels of stress and those that don’t,” Good said. “Affects of stress go from hormonal imbalance to sleep deprivation, eating habits, stress on the heart, and overall stress on the body while you are still growing.”

With the physical and mental effects stress has on everyone, most people find ways to release their stress.

“To cope with my stress, I will usually just sit somewhere by myself and just think,” Zach Schermerhorn said. “I often go up to the roof of my house, because being alone is a really good way for me to calm down and de-stress.”

Adults either have similar methods of de-stressing or do not try at all and just tough it out.  According to a survey by Harris Interactive for stress, they found out that 1/10 of out of 1,950 adults said they do not do anything about their stress at all. 

Even though most adults ignore their stress and do not take care of it, some do and give people advice about how to deal with stress.

“We just have to learn how to cope with stress and deal with it positively,” Sutton said. “We also have to learn not to overload ourselves with so many activities so we can have some time to just ‘stop and smell the roses’!”

Everyone deals with stress, and it does not matter who encounters more stress than the other. It is important for people to help each other get through stress and support each other.

Even with the importance of lending a hand to those undergoing stress, people should look out for themselves and know when to intervene and take a break.

“Take time to relax if you’re feeling stressed,” sophomore Rhiannon Kolas said. “Remember: personal health, then school.”