Stress 101: An Overview for Teens (Teen Overviews)

Margaret O. Hyde, a former teacher, is a well-known author of science and social studies books for young people. She has written or cowritten more than ninety books, many of which have received wide acclaim.

Elizabeth H. Forsyth, M.D., has collaborated with Margaret O. Hyde on more than twenty books. A graduate of Yale University School of Medicine, Forsyth is a child psychiatrist and has been in private practice. She was a consultant to the Burlington, Vermont, public school system and clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont School of Medicine. She lives in Arizona with her husband, Ben R. Forsyth, M.D.

Defining stress as “anything in the environment that causes you to react,” the authors of this entry in the Teen Overviews series first describe its physiological—and even genetic—mechanisms and effects. Then they go on to discuss a huge range of causes of stress, from separation anxiety and dating violence to terrorism and natural disasters. General advice on nondrug palliative measures, such as meditation or joining a support group, concludes. With detailed descriptions of stress-related neonatal complications and numerous references to unsettling experiments on rats, this is not reading for the squeamish; it’s also hard to tell, because of the lack of specific citations, whether the many brief case studies are real or invented. Still, this is a serviceable introduction, addressing teens directly about an all-too-familiar life issue. The scant black-and-white photos and diagrams often seem like filler; the concluding resource list provides sturdier support for the book’s comprehensive information. Grades 7-10. --John Peters