Community Health and Wellness for Somerville HS Students
This website was created by Umass Lowell senior Nursing students as a resource for you if you are looking for an all-in-one resource for Health and Wellness information.
Do you ever experience stress? If yes, you may benefit from learning positive coping mechanisms. Teens like yourself experience more stress when they perceive a situation as dangerous, difficult, or painful & sometimes may not have the resources to cope. Some sources of stress for you may include:
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Social Determinants of Health: family financial problems, food, housing, or transportation insecurity, unsafe housing, family, or neighborhood environment, school demands & frustrations, access to care etc.
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Unplanned events (e.x pandemic, death of a loved one, separation or divorce of parents, moving or changing schools, loss of a job in your family, etc.)
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Negative thoughts or feelings about yourself
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Changes in your bodies, bullying at school, interpersonal problems, poor social support
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Problems with friends and/or peers at school
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Chronic illness or severe problems in the family
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Taking on too many activities or having too high expectation for yourself
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And more...
Sometimes you may have become overloaded with stress. Which could have resulted in you feeling a certain way. Stress can cause the following:
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Feelings of fear, anger, sadness, worry, numbness, or frustration
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Changes in appetite, energy, desires, and interests
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Difficulty concentrating & making decisions
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Difficulty sleeping or nightmares
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Physical reactions: headaches, body pains, stomach problems, & skin rashes
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Anxiety, withdrawal, aggression
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Poor coping skills such as drug, alcohol use, or other substances.
Learning to cope with stress in a healthy way will make you, the people you care about, & those around you become more resilient. Which is why we created this website to include helpful information & resources for you to learn, try & help cope with the stressors you may be encountering.
We also want to let you know you are not alone. Above are two videos of teenagers like yourself speaking about mental health during the pandemic. It is important for your voices to be heard and to seek help when you need it.
