My difficulty is dealing with the stress that comes with school. My parents put stress on me, and I put stress on myself.

What feelings arise? 

I am often tense around my father. I am stressed, depressed, and irritable when I am home. I have a hard time finding motivation. It hurts because I feel that my father does not appreciate my presence as much as he used to and that he does not love me much anymore because my performance in school does not please him.

How does it affect you? 

I am not motivated to do anything, and my problem with my dad causes me to be miserable most of the time. Many of my thoughts and feelings are negatively connotated. The stress is causing my grades to slip even more, which then causes me to stress more, so it is a vicious cycle.

I have a hard time coping with stress. I usually try to stay out of the house, away from my dad so much. I stay away as much as I can in order to not have to deal with it.

What is your part? 

I stress myself a lot.

It stresses me to be in the same room as my dad, and this is an effect of me worrying myself about it. I worry that he will be unhappy with me. The stress shows in my body by me not getting enough sleep, or not wanting to eat. Stress causes my school performance to worsen.

What are you learning? 

I am learning that maybe I have to try to see if from his perspective a little more. Maybe he is just worried for my future, although he tends to be a little obsessive with my grades. I may need to try to have a calm talk with him about it. Anytime I am near him I immediately tense up and am irritable. I don’t have many people to talk about my stress with, so it tends to bottle up. Maybe if I tried harder and tried to have a positive outlook on my parents, things might be better.

What can you shift or turn around in your thinking or feeling? 

If I can shift my outlook and feelings, I can enjoy school more, and my grades may improve. I will be happier overall.

How do you choose to work with your difficulty? 

I will speak to my dad to try and improve our understanding of each other and to improve our relationship.

What is this difficulty teaching you?

I can use these questions to react to other situations.

16 years, female