It’s constantly on students minds when they’re up at 2AM finishing their homework, five minutes before the big test and attempting to balance a busy schedule. Stress affects millions of people worldwide, according to APA, in a variety of ways which is why April is marked as National Stress Awareness Month.

“School really tends to stress me out the most,” sophomore Jordyn Farrar said. “Especially my math and WHAP classes. I also stress about trying to balance school, work and a social life. I tend to get less sleep when I’m stressed. I’m also a lot moodier and short with people in my life and it keeps me from enjoying things.”

There are several types of stress with different levels of severity. There is the common stress levels that some teenagers feel and there is also Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), both affect millions of people every day. The idea behind National Stress Awareness Month is as it states, spread awareness on the effects of stress.

“Even though we’ve learned a lot about stress in the past twenty years we’ve still got a long way to go,” Dr. Morton C. Orman, M.D., Founder and Director of HRN, stated on stressawarenessmonth.com. “New information is now available that could help millions of Americans eliminate their suffering.”

Stress can cause physical and mental pain and issues, however, there are some ways to deal with stress including meditation, organizing things and making plans.

“With tests, presentations and homework, it’s hard to keep up with all of it as well as try and maintain a healthy sleep schedule, social life and finding time for work,” sophomore Jessica Trevarthen said. “When I get stressed I like to just take a break, especially with school work, I find I like to play with my dog or watch Netflix.”