The dimension of wellness that relates to a teenager is emotional wellness. Some adults are emotionally unstable because of their childhoods. Emotional wellness is something that can not be forced. Emotional wellness is, “Inspiring self-care, relaxation, stress reduction, and the development of inner strength” (The Regents of the University of California, 2016). Peer pressure is introduced to teenagers, this is the age when they are typically starting high school. Between the years of starting high school and graduating high school, a person goes through a lot. If a teenager tells you no, then they are lying or hiding some experiences. The importance of emotional wellness is, “Being emotionally well grants you the power to express feelings without any constraints” (The Regents of the University of California, 2016).

At SUNY Cortland, Wednesday at 7 pm, there is a program called Wellness Wednesday; this event is free and open to the public. This event gives the community the chance to introduce the benefits of emotional wellness. The purpose of the program is to,”Achieving better health including meditation, massage, acupuncture, and chiropractic medicine” (WBNG News, 2013). The Cortland community is striving to make a change and allowing the event to be free and open to the public is a good start. This program can be accessible to teenagers. They will get knowledge of how to better themselves emotionally. When a teenager comes every week, they will have a better view of emotional wellness, than a person who does not come. To help bring the message of educating the public of wellness promotion, which includes emotional wellness. This program will have, “Speakers, exhibits, self-help workshops…(WBNG, 2013). This program is great for the public and it is great the town of Cortland wants to empower the community.

While in high school I had friends, who did not have emotional wellness. They reacted in common ways like other teenagers, including smoking and drinking. Every time I saw them they would be smoking cigarettes and I would always question them as to why they enjoyed smoking. Their response was that they were using smoking to cope with their feelings. I would tell them that there are other ways, such as joining groups to release any stress and communicating with adults to help them. This person was a male, and at this time they were fifteen years old. Their teeth were already rotten and their lips were already black. Smoking cigarettes were their ways of releasing any tension in their body. They are already susceptible to health problems and the were not even twenty yet. They did not even think of the long term cause of cigarettes.

Many teenagers turn to smoking cigarettes as a way to cope with their feelings. Having a counselor or a person to talk to is very important. I always talked to them but they never listened. They thought smoking was the answer to their problems. I stopped associating with this person because I hate the smoking of cigarettes. No one never smoked in my house, the smell of cigarettes really stinks to me. In the future, I hope this person stops smoking and know that there are others ways to reduce stress. Ways to reduce stress include writing poetry, listening to music, talking to a friend that can actually help you, or just going to a group relating to any issues a person may have. Others ways that I would tell a person to help is, “Optimism allows you to greet all emotions, both positive and negative, with a confident attitude that allows you to learn from your mistakes” (The Regents of the University of California, 2016). Some people are embarrassed to go to a therapist. If I ever come across someone else with the same habit, I will educate them more on emotional wellness.

References

Emotional Wellness- UC Davis SHCS. (2016). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/wellness/emotional/#.Vsff...

SUNY Cortland Offers Spring ‘Wellness’ Series for Campus, Community.(2013). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.wbng.com/news/around-the-tiers/SUNY-Cortland-Offers-

Spring-Wellness-Series-for-Campus-Community-190743271.html