Social stress keeps increasing on a daily basis and is a challenge for many teenagers and young adults in the world today.
This is often due to the pressure associated with their age to fit into social activities and be seen by all and sundry in the society. What I mean by this is that a lot of us do not want to tell the society our age, because we believe they would take us for granted and/or perhaps make us feel like a child. We also want to get involved in activities that would make us famous and seen by the society, and this is where the use of social media comes in.
Perhaps, I should write a little bit about myself.
Social media has helped me so far, made me network with several people who are intellects and also helped me to focus on the best way I can achieve my goal in life. Although I stay on social media with an average of 2 hours everyday, I try as much as possible to avoid making a post where I have to talk about my age.
I think it makes people feel I am too young, or too old. I try to fit into some things online because some people operate with me like I am 25 years old. The moment I find someone acting weird on my page or timeline, I sometimes feel inferior, down.
I hope you now understand what I meant in the second paragraph?
Social stress can result from relationships with people either around you, on the internet or your social environment. This point brings me to cyber bullying, partying and clubbing.
Have you ever lived with people who go clubbing every Friday night and you are endure being talked down at because you refused to go with them?
Have you ever gone to a party, wore your best dress only to get there and hear another lady tell you that your fashion taste is poor or in coma?
Have you ever made a post on Facebook and you find your close friends hurl insults at you, make your post a topic and tag you in every post they made to make you feel stupid?
Have you felt turned down by a total stranger you met in a commercial bus?
Have you ever been depressed for days, because a conductor insulted you with a mark or disability on your body?
You see, I would say yes to all of these questions. I used to get really worried over so many things at teenagehood. I just wished I could know what went on in my course-mates’ mind on my dress sense.
Symptoms of social stress
- Headache
- Rapid heart rate
- Dizziness
- Inferiority complex
- Sadness
- Depression
- Confusion
Causes of Social Stress
- Comparison with someone else
- Excess of social media: you need to draw a line on what you want to see, say and do on social media. You don’t have to take everything you see on social media seriously.
- Cyber bullying
{Read: social media, social skills and teenagers}
How to Cope
Being social is beautiful. If you have an account on all social media platform too, that is very beautiful. I have come to notice that we depend a lot on social media to make ourselves happy.
A few of us have friends offline, which is why most spend time on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram doing nothing or talking to a stranger.
Here is how I cope with social stress
- I give myself time, I stay away from the cause of the stress.
- If it is a Facebook friend, I either unfriend or block the person.
- I take time to rest well, allow my brain chill and think for itself with a third party.
- I try to keep the company of my close and good friends more than my online friends
- I don’t judge or give a clapback at people who bully me. I stay away from them and gradually, the whole issue dries into thin air
- Finally, I try to forget all that happens to me. Forgetting them is the best favour you can do to yourself, or else you would keep fighting the wind.
I hope this helps you too to deal with social stress.
So, tell me. How do you deal with social stress? Hit the comments below and don’t forget to subscribe to this blog to not miss a post.
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