Ask Sam letter

Hi there,

Most people feel stress and have social anxiety at some time. These are natural feelings but sometimes they can feel overwhelming and hard to deal with but you don’t have to go through this alone. It can help to think about where these feelings come from so you can manage them better. If that seems hard to do you can talk it through with someone.

Sometimes there can be certain times when you feel stressed. For some people they could get stressed because they feel pressure to do well at something such as exams that are coming up. Other people may feel stressed when they're somewhere where there's a lot of shouting and arguing. When you have a better idea of what makes you feel stressed that can help you find ways to manage these feelings. You may find the Calm Zone helpful to feel calm and less stressed.

When you feel social anxiety it’s because you’re worried about something that could happen when you’re with other people. A lot of people worry about doing something that they feel will make other people think badly of them. It can help to think about what you’re worried could happen. A lot of the time other people care a lot less about these things than you think they would.

When you feel stressed and anxious taking slow deep breaths can help you feel more calm. Talking about these feelings with a trusted adult or a Childline counsellor can help you make sense of them and find ways to cope. You can talk to Childline by 1-2-1 online chat, email, on the phone by calling 0800 111 and in BSL using sign video. You can also talk to other young people on the Childline message boards.

Take care,

Sam