“Teenage years are the most stressful years. We have more responsibility to handle and the biggest one is finding who we are,” – Unknown.

Sometimes I think to myself, high school will be the death of me. And as dramatic as that sounds, about 85 percent of teens across the nation are probably feeling the same thing, according to a survey conducted by the Associated Press and MTV.

Those 85 percent of teenagers are experiencing what’s considered a “normal” part of growing up: stress. But when does stress pass the line from normal, to not so normal?

Stress can influence everyone in different ways. It can lead to irritability, withdrawal from friends and family, fatigue mood swings. But the most common symptom that stress can lead to is depression.

“You feel like you can’t do anything about it. It’s a war.. you’re surrounded by every single thought you thought you would never had. Tell someone, something. It doesn’t even matter if it’s just a small sign, a bunch of small signs add up,” Joel Faviere said in his YouTube video, Stay That Way. 

According to the video, about 20 percent if teens will suffer from depression, and 30 percent of those teens will go untreated. That makes them 12 times more likely to go to extremes, such as suicide.

What’s worse is stress can come from anywhere.  Parents, friends, grades, homework, sports, and other activities all can lead to stress. Sometimes, as students, we’re too busy to actually make time for ourselves and take a break from everything. That’s probably why all this stress builds up and stays there until we’re pushed over the line.

“Students have to be aware of their moods and whether symptoms continue to be chronic,” school psychiatrist Dana Kantor said.  “I urge them to talk to a pediatrician, psychiatrist, social worker, or parents.”

It’s so hard with all our busy schedules to make time and talk to an adult or a friend about problems we may be having, but everyone has to remember that your health should always come first.

There have always been teenage suicides displayed on the news, whether it was from bullying or from stress, and it really makes me think about how hurt or withdrawn a person has to be to resort to taking their own life. As the years go on, bullying increases and schoolwork increases, meaning teenage suicide increases, but no school seems to be taking real strides to try and help lower these numbers that have soared to become the third leading cause of death in teenagers.  Sure, we have the NAMES assembly here at West, but it leaves a lot of us asking how that helps.

I remember a television show that used to be on MTV called, If You Really Knew Me, where students would open up to each other and talk about past and current grievances they have or are going through in their life. The show was to help prove to students that they always have someone to talk to. Other students may not be going through the same things you are, but that’s not a reason why you shouldn’t speak up. When everyone comes together and has each others backs, students tend not to feel so alone. And I think that’s always the one connection between all teenage suicides, they felt alone.

Now even though this TV show will probably never come to Niles West, the meaning of the show should be a message that everyone promotes to each other. Which is, at the end of the day when we set all differences aside from each other, we’re all growing up, making mistakes and on the same emotional roller coaster, we just have to learn how to help each other get through each “giant drop.”

The key thing is to speak up. A friend, a family member, a teacher, a coach — these are all options. There’s always someone. But it’s always left up to you to utilize that someone, because your life is precious. Don’t take it away because of a bully, or because you’re overloaded with stress. You’ve only just begun living, don’t stop.

If you’re reading this right now, “you’re alive. Stay that way,” – Joel Faviere.