Slideshow: Stress, depression, anxiety, PTSD

This is what you can do if you feel stressed

• Tell a friend or an adult you know about how you feel. You will usually feel better afterwards.
• Try to eat and sleep well.
• Get out and move, for instance, by exercising or taking a walk.
• Do things that you think are fun, for instance, hang out with friends or listen to music.
• Find a way to relax that suits you. For example, try breathing exercises.
• Think about why you are stressed. Is there anything that you can change? When you think of something write it down.
• Do you smoke? Try to quit.

Feeling sad and tired

Do you feel sad, tired and worried? Have you stopped caring about things that you used to think were fun? This is called being depressed.

You might know why you feel this way. For example, something terrible may have happened, your life may have changed or you may feel lonely. You can also feel sad and worried even though nothing in particular has happened.

You may feel that you will always feel bad. But this feeling nearly always goes away. You will be able to feel happy again.

This is what you can do:

• Let your feelings out instead of trying to suppress them. It’s okay to cry or be angry.
• Tell a friend or an adult you know about how you feel. You will usually feel good afterwards.
• Try to eat and sleep properly.
• Get out and move, for instance, by exercising or taking a walk.
• Try to go outside every day. Daylight is good for you.
• Do things that you think are fun, for instance, hang out with friends or listen to music.
• Write down how you feel.
• Are you stressed? Think about why and whether you can change anything yourself. 

Being depressed

If you have been sad and tired for more than a couple of weeks, you may be depressed. In that case, you may feel very tired or find it hard to sleep. You might be hungrier or less hungry than usual. You might find it hard to concentrate and are easily irritated. Things that you liked to do before might seem boring or meaningless. Maybe your head is full of thoughts. You might begin to think that you don’t want to live anymore.

In that case, you need help to feel better. For instance, contact a Youth Guidance Centre (ungdomsmottagning), a health clinic (vårdcentral), children and adolescent psychiatry (bup) or a psychiatric clinic. You can visit your school nurse or school counsellor if you go to school.

Anxiety 

Do you feel very frightened and worried? This can be a sign of anxiety. Anxiety usually has strong symptoms in your body. You might feel pressure across your chest. Your heart might beat fast or hard, and you might find it difficult to breathe. You might have a stomach ache or feel dizzy. Things around you might feel unreal or as if you were inside a bubble.

You might know why you have anxiety. But you can also have anxiety and not know why.

Anxiety that comes quickly and intensely is called a panic attack.

It can be frightening to have an panic attack. Sometimes it can feel like you are going to lose control. But anxiety isn’t dangerous. It is the result of natural reactions in your body. An panic attack always passes.

This is what you can do if you have an anxiety attack

• Try to continue doing what you had planned to do even if you have an panic attack. After a while, you will notice that those tough feelings have diminished.
• Tell a friend or an adult you know about how you feel.
• Try to eat and sleep well.
• Get out and move, for instance, by exercising or taking a walk.
• Do things that you think are fun, for instance, hang out with friends or listen to music.
• Are you feeling stressed? Think about why and if you can change anything yourself.
• Do you smoke or use snuff? Do this less or try to quit.
• Avoid alcohol and other drugs. They can cause more anxiety.
• Learn more about anxiety, for example, by reading about it or talking to someone who knows more about it.

Feeling bad after a serious event - PTSD

Do you think a lot about something frightening that has happened? You may find it difficult to sleep, have nightmares, be tired and sad, have pain, be angry and find it hard to concentrate. Maybe you don’t want to think or talk about what it was that happened to you. This can be a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.

You might feel bad and frightened, even after a long time. This can feel difficult, but it’s not strange that you feel this way.

The worst feelings usually go away after a while. But they may remain for a long time or first occur at some later point. In that case, you need help to feel safe and to be able to live well. 

This is what you can do if you feel bad after a serious event

• Tell a friend or an adult you know about how you feel. You will usually feel better afterwards.

• Contact a Youth Guidance Centre (ungdomsmottagning), a health clinic (vårdcentral), children and adolescent psychiatry (bup) or a psychiatric clinic. You can visit your school nurse or school counsellor if you go to school.

Get help if you feel very bad

Contact a Youth Guidance Centre (ungdomsmottagning), a health clinic (vårdcentral) or children and adolescent psychiatry (bup). You can contact your school nurse or school counsellor if you go to school.

Call 112 or contact a psychiatric emergency room if you or someone else feels very bad, and you want to get help as quickly as possible. Call 1177 to find out where to go. Ask someone you know to help you if you need help.