5.1: Bust My Stress

What We're Learning

This lesson teaches us how stress affects our feelings, thinking, body, and friendships. We will also practice healthy ways to handle stress and take care of ourselves and others.

Our Wellness Goal

One goal for this lesson is to see challenges in a more positive way, instead of only seeing them as scary or hard.

Let's talk about our SMART Goals (goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based):

• How is your current goal going?
• What is one way you could improve? (This is called a "Grow.")
• What is one way you are already doing well? (This is called a "Glow.")

Think about which guideline from today's lesson connects to your goal.

Warm-Up Activity

Pick one of these activities to get started:

1. Guideline Popcorn – As a group, quickly call out all 8 guidelines, one after another, like popping popcorn.
2. Guideline Charades – Split into small groups. Each group gets one guideline and must act it out silently while everyone else guesses.
3. Two Truths and One Lie – Can you guess which statement is false?
4. Truth: About one-third of teens say stress makes them feel overwhelmed, sad, or like crying.
5. Truth: Stressed teens often have trouble sleeping at night.
6. Lie: The most common way teens deal with stress is by exercising or playing sports.
7. Discussion or Journal Questions:
8. Do you ever feel stressed? Do you think of stress as something hard to get through? How do you handle it?
9. Does stress change how you get along with family and friends? How might your mood change if you learn to manage stress better?
10. What activities do you think could help you handle stress in a healthy way?

Materials Needed

• Worksheets
• A slide presentation
• Speakers and music
• 4 "Stress-Free Station" handouts (more if the group is large)
• Index cards (3x5)
• Markers, crayons, or colored pencils

Important Words to Know

• Stress: How your body reacts to any change that needs a response or adjustment. Your body reacts with physical, mental, and emotional changes.
• Acute Stress: Short-term stress that goes away quickly. It's connected to the body's "fight or flight" response, which helps you handle danger. It can also happen when you try something new or exciting.
• Chronic Stress: Stress that lasts a long time. It can hurt your body, your mind, and your life if it doesn't go away.
• Traumatic Stress: Stress that happens after something shocking or overwhelming occurs.
• Eustress: A "good" kind of stress that actually helps your health and well-being.
• Distress: A "bad" kind of stress that can show up as changes in how you act.
• Toxic Stress: Stress that happens too often or lasts too long, overloading the body and brain's stress systems.
• Cope: To work through problems and difficult situations and try to find solutions.
• Resilience: The ability to get through hard times and adjust well when things are difficult.
• Adversity: A hard situation or tough condition.

Today's Plan

• Do Now (warm-up question)
• Acute vs. Chronic (learning the types of stress)
• There's Hope If I Can Cope (learning ways to handle stress)
• Stress-Free Stations (practice activities)
• Exit Ticket (wrap-up question)

Do Now

Answer these questions on your worksheet, or share your answers out loud:

• What is something in your life that stresses you out, but you can't control it?
• What is something in your life that stresses you out, but you can control it?
• How do you react in these stressful moments? Is your reaction the same or different for each one?

Good to Know: Acute vs. Chronic

Does anyone know what stress really means? Stress is how your body reacts to change. Your body responds with feelings in your body, your mind, and your emotions.

There are three main types of stress: acute, traumatic, and chronic.

Acute stress is the most common type. It's short-term stress that fades quickly. It's linked to the "fight or flight" response, which helps you deal with danger. It can also happen when you try something new or exciting. This type of stress can bring on eustress—a positive stress reaction that's actually good for your health, motivation, and emotions.

This kind of positive stress is a normal part of growing up. It can cause your heart to beat a little faster or your hormone levels to rise slightly. Meeting a new babysitter for the first time or getting a shot at the doctor's office are examples of things that might cause this kind of stress.

Traumatic stress happens after something shocking or overwhelming occurs. When stress comes from something more serious or long-lasting—like losing someone you love, a natural disaster, or a scary event—it activates the body's alarm systems. If this stress doesn't last too long, and if caring adults help support you through it, your brain and body can recover.

Chronic stress lasts a long time and can hurt your body, mind, and life. This type of stress is linked to distress, a negative stress reaction.

Toxic stress can happen when someone faces strong, frequent, or ongoing hardship—like abuse, neglect, family struggles with substance use or mental illness, violence, or money problems—without enough support to help them cope.

When this kind of stress keeps happening, it can raise the risk of health problems like ulcers (damage inside the stomach or intestines), high blood pressure, and headaches.

Stress can also cause headaches and feelings like sadness, frustration, worry, and helplessness.

But here's something interesting: some stress can actually help you! You need a certain kind of "tension" to build a bridge, play the guitar, or knit.

Think about the last time you felt nervous and excited at the same time. This might happen when you take a test, speak in front of a group, ask someone to hang out, or watch a scary movie.

What about distress? Examples include feeling unsafe, arguing with someone you love, or having a schedule that's too busy.

If you are going through a hard time or dealing with a lot of chronic stress, remember there are people and resources that can help you. Trusted adults, counselors, and support organizations are there for you.

There's also something called the Yerkes-Dodson Law, which shows how stress and performance are connected. There's an "optimal level" of stress where you perform your very best—enough stress to challenge you, but not so much that it overwhelms you.

Real World Relevance: There's Hope If I Can Cope

Stress happens to everyone. The good news is that stress can actually help you build healthy ways of coping, which makes you mentally stronger over time.

Remember:

• To cope means to deal with problems and try to find solutions.
• Resilience means adjusting well to adversity (a hard situation).

Let's first talk about common stressors—the things that trigger stress in our lives. Then we'll think of coping strategies, which are healthy ways to respond.

Questions to discuss:

• What are some common things that stress you out in your life?
• What are some healthy ways to cope with stress?

Examples of Healthy Coping Strategies

Try meditating or deep breathing: Deep breathing can slow down your heart rate and help you feel less panicked. It's especially helpful when your emotions and stress feel like too much.

Get enough sleep: Teens need 8–10 hours of sleep every night. If you can't get that much at night, try taking a nap during the day.

Talk to a friend or trusted adult: Talking about a problem can help you understand it better and feel calmer and more confident about handling it. When you're stressed, you might feel alone, but try to spend time with people you trust and ask for help if you need it.

Exercise: Moving your body helps release endorphins, which are "feel-good" chemicals in your brain.

Eat healthy food: When we're stressed, we often want sugary or processed snacks because they make our brains feel pleasure for a moment. But these foods actually make things worse! They can make you feel more stressed and emotional because they cause your blood sugar to jump up and down like a roller coaster. When you're stressed, your body needs real food—foods with lots of nutrients, fiber, and healthy fat help keep your blood sugar steady and your emotions balanced. Some examples are leafy greens, berries, nuts, seeds, avocados, eggs, and natural peanut butter.

Use positive self-talk: Being kind to yourself and saying positive things out loud can really help lower your stress. If you keep thinking or saying negative things about yourself, you might start to believe them! The same is true for positive thoughts—they can boost your mood and help you get things done, while also lowering stress.

Avoid too much caffeine: Drinking too much caffeine, like coffee, can make feelings of worry or anxiety worse.