Burnout could hit over 75% of teens

A new research study has shown that more than 75 percent of teenagers are experiencing so much stress that they are at risk of burning out. "Teenagers feel tremendous pressure to perform." says Annemieke Ruggenberg from youth newspaper 7Days and author of book Stop met stressen, which was published this week. Their survey of 2 thousand young people showed that 76 percent of them feel the pressure on them is too high. A third of teenagers struggle with stresses such as school and studies on a daily basis. Sometimes the stress is so high that the young people get burnt out. Carol van Velzen, clinical psychologist at the Burn-out program of the University Medical Center in Groningen, says that this is a fairly recent phenomenon. "About 10 years ago it was mainly people over 50 who had difficulty with the increasing workload. Now we continue to see younger people." According to Van Velzen, social media contributes to burnouts, a phenomenon first described in the 1970's. Social media creates the image for young people that they always have to go everywhere and do everything. But this type of lifestyle is unsustainable. "You rob your body if you include too few moments of rest," Van Velzen says. Symptoms of a burnout are muscle pain, palpitations and concentration problems. You feel mentally and physically exhausted. Ven Velzen says that parents must play a significant role in protecting young people from burnouts. "Teach children to say no occasionally and how to relax."