I’m reading Walt Mueller’s book Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture
It is true that all over the world young people are looking for ways to relieve stress in their lives. I thought this article over at YPulse was interesting about how young people relieve stress. According to the article that YPulse references, “stress is the invisible global constant afflicting youth of all ages in all markets.”
5 Ways Young People Relieve Stress
- Listening to Music – 65% of all young people on the planet listen to music to relieve stress. I wonder what they’re listening to.
- Watching TV – 48% watch TV to relieve stress (but not the news…it stresses them out)
- Talking to Friends – the use of technology has made this even more available as a stress reducer
- Sleeping
- Praying – young people who pray more are less stressed. Ypulse says, “Stressed youth on average pray 3.7 times per week. Relaxed youth pray 8.8 times a week.”
Check out the article on YPulse for the Top 12 Ways Young People Reduce Stress.
Hi Dennis,
Thank you for that article. I agree that young people are stressed at the moment.
My feeling is that there are a lot of demands placed on the youth of today but they are not really given the tools to deal with this. Parents are sometimes not good at dealing with their own stress and this they then pass on to the kids.
I also feel that activities like TV are good in small doses but can actually add to their stress levels if they are constantly watching it. TV stimulates the mind when sometimes it needs to switch off.
I think that praying, exercise and being with friends are all excellent ways of relieving stress.
Thank you,
May you be well,
Piers
Last night I watched a program about the effects of stress. In both the long term and the short term, stress is tied to a certain type of weight gain. And the “stress weight” teens gain in their bellies actually store hormones and all sorts of bad things that can lead to a much shorter life! Another scary thing was that that a stressed out mommy during pregnancy actually effects her babies long term health. Children born during Nazi-occupied Netherlands had a HUGE rate of heart disease, on-going anger issues, etc.
Interesting post!
@Piers – thanks for the comment. I certainly agree there are many reasons for the stress in our lives and that some of the things we do to relieve stress actually cause more stress. great point.
@adam interesting insight about “stress weight.” maybe that accounts for the “freshman 15” in college?
hey Dennis, how are you and Janelle and the babies? linked your blog/ymi mexico onto my blog…decided to use my blog to encourage whomever reads it…i drew much inspiration from Clayton King’s and Steven Furtick’s blogs so i thought it’ll be somewhere my youths can read about my thoughts. it’s also a discipline for me to write down my thoughts and also what God said to me….otherwise…i will forget…hahah..
hey got any interesting and good solid blogs that i can link to? i’ve also added YMI and the lot…drop by if you’re free…hope to hear from you…