Stress & Anxiety
This is the body’s natural response to pressure, change, or challenges.
What is stress?
Feeling sad sometimes is normal, but this is the word for sadness that lasts most days for at least two weeks and affects your life.
What is depression?
This kind of coping skill calms your body using your breath.
What is deep breathing?
This is what you call an invisible line that shows what is okay and not okay with you.
What is a boundary?
This school professional is trained to help with academic and sometimes emotional support.
What is a school counselor?
Sweaty palms, racing heart, and “butterflies” in your stomach before a test are signs of this.
What is anxiety or feeling nervous?
This is the term for thoughts that are harsh and critical, like “I’m a failure” or “I’m not good enough.”
What is negative self‑talk?
Name one habit that improves your mental health over time.
What is (any of) regular sleep, moving your body, connecting with friends, or limiting screens?
This style of communication sounds like “I feel…, I need…, I’m asking…”
What is assertive communication?
This type of professional provides therapy to help with mental health, trauma, and coping skills.
What is a therapist, counselor, or social worker?
Name one healthy way to reduce stress in your day.
What is (any of) taking a break, movement, music, talking to someone, or deep breathing?
This skill means stepping back and asking, “Is this thought a fact, or just my feeling?”
What is checking the evidence or cognitive restructuring?
This skill means doing the opposite of what your unhelpful mood tells you, like getting out of bed even when you want to stay in it all day.
What is behavioral activation?
Name one sign of a healthy friendship.
What is (any of) respect, honesty, feeling safe, or being able to say no?
This is what you’re doing when you tell a trusted adult that a friend is talking about self‑harm.
What is breaking the silence to keep someone safe or telling to save a life?
This type of anxiety is intense, comes in waves, and may feel like you’re having a heart attack.
What is a panic attack?
Name one sign that someone might be struggling with depression.
What is (any of) loss of interest, changes in sleep or appetite, low energy, or feeling hopeless?
This is the term for small, unhealthy habits people sometimes use to cope, like constant scrolling, avoiding everything, or using substances.
What is negative coping or maladaptive coping?
Name one warning sign of a toxic or abusive relationship.
What is (any of) controlling behavior, threats, constant put‑downs, or isolation from friends and family?
Name one place a teen can contact for crisis help (general, no specific numbers needed).
What is (any of) a crisis line, text line, emergency room, or local crisis center or 988?
This thinking trap sounds like “If I mess up once, my whole life is ruined.”
What is catastrophizing?
This thinking style is “all good or all bad,” with no in‑between.
What is black‑and‑white thinking or all‑or‑nothing thinking?
Name one grounding strategy for when you feel dissociated, numb, or “spaced out.”
What is (any of) 5‑4‑3‑2‑1 senses exercise, holding ice, naming objects in the room, or feeling your feet on the floor?
This phrase describes the idea that you are responsible for your own feelings and choices, not other people’s reactions.
What is emotional responsibility or “I’m responsible for me, not for others’ reactions”?
This belief stops many people from getting help and sounds like “If I see a therapist, I’m weak or crazy.”
What is mental health stigma?