Every year, International Stress Awareness Week looks to raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with stress and mental health issues. Stress is a state of worry or tension caused by difficult situations. It is a natural human response which everyone experiences to some degree, however the way we respond to stress makes a huge difference to our personal wellbeing.
The Mental Health Foundation reports that 6 out of 10 young people have felt so stressed by the pressure to succeed that they have felt unable to cope. They also report that 47% of young people have felt so stressed by body image they have felt overwhelmed and unable to cope.
Here at LYP we recognise that the young people we work with daily experience stress in many forms. At each stage of our continuum we aim to provide support to help young people manage these stressors. This can take the form of speaking with a youth worker about self-esteem at our youth cafes BFree and BYouth, experiencing the calming benefits of spending time in nature whilst climbing a mountain as part of our Into the Wild project, or learning healthy coping mechanisms for stress in a counselling session with our Counselling and Emotional Well-Being team.
A relational approach is woven through all our projects and we believe that by providing a safe, open space for young people we can help to reduce stress levels and the stigma associated with it.
