How to Help a Stressed Out Son

Photo by Mindaugas Danys via Flickr
Photo by Mindaugas Danys via Flickr

Believe it or not, a lot of boys don’t know when they’re feeling stressed. They might feel — and act — angry, mad or upset, or even withdraw and shutdown. An older boy might be able to tell you he’s overwhelmed. More often that not, though, you’ll see the signs — frustration, a short fuse, a boy who’s banging things around — before your son will tell you he’s stressed. Yelling at him, in that moment, won’t help. Here’s what will:

#1: Recognize that he needs help
The research shows that boys are likely to ignore stress. They may deny their stressful feelings or refuse to think about the issue causing them stress. And while both strategies may work in the short-term, neither is a long-term solution. So your first step as a parent may be to help your son realize that feeling stressed out is a signal, a signal that something needs to change.

#2: Identify and minimize triggers.
If you can, figure out what’s bothering your son. If he’s young, say under the age of three, it’ll be up to you to identify the causes of his meltdowns. Is he hungry? Tired? Overstimulated? Try to figure out what’s going on, and then take steps to remedy the situation. Also, see what you can do differently next time. If your son has a temper tantrum every time you stop by the grocery store on the way home from daycare, it may be that the grocery store, with its lights and sounds and people, is just too much for him after a day of childcare. Next time, try picking up milk before you pick up your son.

If your son is older, see if he can identify what’s causing him stress. Don’t be suprised if his first answer is an exasperated, “I don’t know.” Remember: boys avoid thinking about their stress. Talking through some possible causes (“Your new teacher seems pretty strict”) might help him open up.

#3: Get him moving
When a person is stressed, his body enters a stage of fight-or-flight. Adrenaline pumps through his body — whether or not he needs to flee from a Siberian tiger.

Take advantage of that chemical influx by encouraging your son to go for a run, punch a pillow or do jumping jacks. He may return with a new perspective.

#4: Speak up
Boys’ hearing is less acute than girls’ anyway. Add in stress, and they’re likely to tune you out all together. Don’t yell; just speak in a loud, clear voice.

#5: Teach problem solving
After your son has calmed down, talk through the situation. What happened? What would he like to happen? What steps can he take to make that outcome more likely?

Role-modeling is great here. Let your son see you constructively handling stress in your everyday life. Better yet — let him see his father, uncles, and male neighbors handling stress productively.

What other ideas do you have for helping boys deal with stress?

The Building Boys Bulletin

The Building Boys Bulletin Newsletter gives you the facts, encouragement, and inspiration you need to help boys thrive. Written by Jennifer L.W. Fink, mom of four sons and author of Building Boys: Raising Great Guys in a World That Misunderstands Males, Building Boys Bulletin includes:

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“I learned a lot about helping boys thrive over the past 20+ years — most of it the hard way! I’m eager to share what I’ve learned to make your path a little easier.”   – Jennifer

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3 Responses

  1. I’m curious to hear what you think about the difference between boys/men and girls/women, towards stress. I think one of the things that attracts females to males is they are able to remain calm when women “freak” out. So in a way, that’s a nice thing for women. Imagine if men said, “I’m worried and stressed about life.” Most women worry about everything and if their husband also worried, that would double the stress. So what I’m trying to say is that perhaps boys/men, don’t worry as much as girls/women do, and we might be imposing our “stress” feelings on them. At least that’s what I think my husband would say.

  2. Thank you so much for this whole “series” on boys and stress. I think my two sons are handling the stressors in our life right now in very different ways, and the things you’ve written about are very informative. And in response to whether men react less to stress than women, I’d say that stress has nothing to do with gender. In fact, I imagine that women have far more coping mechanisms than men in general which puts men at higher risk for stress-induced illness, etc.

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