Stress a key issue for Kiwi youngsters
Unrealistic expectations and money worries are driving anxiety levels among young people, Cate Broughton reports.
COMPLETING assignments, passing exams and working out how to survive on $160 a week in Auckland are the key drivers of stress for first-year social work student Ebony Fleming.
The 19-year-old’s experience is consistent with the findings from a recent Youthline survey of 400 young New Zealanders aged 16 to 24 years-old, in which stress came out ahead of drugs and alcohol as the single biggest issue for young people.
Ranked first by 14 per cent of respondents, stress was also identified as the issue that caused the greatest personal difficulties.
Lack of acceptance, bullying, drugs and suicide were also named as among the key challenges facing young people in the study.
Youthline marketing information and communications manager Briana Hill said the survey results were consistent with international findings.
‘‘I think young people get told a lot of the time drugs and alcohol are a big problem for them when actually, when asked about something they’ve been through, it’s relationships and bullying and that kind of stuff.’’
In Fleming’s case, she left her foster family in Taupo for Auckland two years ago. Struggling to find work, she sought help from Youthline and became a volunteer.
This year she started a social work degree at Auckland University of Technology. From her student allowance of $160 a week, $90 goes on accommodation and $50 on travel costs, leaving about $20 to cover food and everything else. ‘‘It is really stressful trying to figure out where it will go and what needs more money than other things.’’
But bullying, suicide and drugs still feature as big issues, Fleming said.
The teenager has seen a friend overdose on heroin and said drugs were too easy to buy.
‘‘It was scary to think her life could end because of how easily she purchased it.’’
Former Auckland Girls Grammar student Kinanti Desyanandini, 19, works 35 hours a week in two paid jobs, is a fulltime student, has two volunteer jobs and is recovering from an unhealthy relationship last year. She said money worries, living up to her own high expectations and navigating relationships created the most stress.
‘‘I do have support but I know that support comes at a price for me personally and I would much rather be as self-reliant as I can be.’’
Many of her friends had unhealthy relationships involving co-dependency and violence Desyanandini said.
‘‘There’s a lack of comprehension of how people should treat each other in a relationship.’’
University of Auckland school of psychology associate professor Kerry Gibson said life was harder for young people today as they faced unrealistic expectations, uncertain financial futures and a much more complex social world.
‘‘Young people live in a world where there are very high expectations that they should succeed in every area of their lives.’’
Stress resulted from a ‘‘mismatch’’ between ‘‘messages from society, the media and sometimes parents about the ‘ideal life’ and what [young people] actually experience’’, Gibson said.
‘‘They are told they should prepare themselves for successful careers but they face a more precarious job and financial future than their parents did.’’ A plate of biscuits or a basket of muffins might do little for the waistline – but if they’re baked at home, they may be doing wonders for your mental health.
Clinical psychologist Marilize Slabber says baking is a great way to relax the mind and body and can be a good technique to help teach mindfulness.
Slabber works with trauma patients, and says she has seen how tactile and sensory objects can distract and calm people.
She says a similar link could be made to baking, and how it offers a distraction from busy lives.
Counsellor Michael Nolan says people often forget to take time out.
Whether it was gardening, scrapbooking, exercising, baking, or simply sitting in the sun for halfan-hour with a coffee in hand, Nolan said relaxation is an important part of self-care.
For Seini Pifeleti of Palmerston North, baking offers the perfect way to de-stress after a long day at work.
When she is not working her two jobs, Pifeleti can be found in the kitchen about three times a week, baking up a storm and listening to YouTube clips.
Young people live in world where there are very high expectations that they should succeed in every area of their lives.’ KERRY GIBSON