Youth in Mind: Tame Your Stress & Reach Your Success

Stress can be either positive or detrimental, a force that inspires us to achieve more, or, when overwhelming, leaves us vulnerable to burnout, breakdown, and mental health challenges. According to the World Health Organization, approximately one in seven adolescents aged 10–19 globally experiences a mental health condition.To shed light on these important issues, I spoke with Hanan Al Samri, a healthcare professional with extensive experience in mental health, particularly child and adolescent mental health. She is passionate about developing people centered, evidence based services, strengthening mental health systems, and promoting early intervention and prevention. Her expertise includes strategic planning, service development, capacity building, and cross-sector collaboration. Hanan is also committed to empowering young people, strengthening support systems in educational settings, and advancing mental health as an essential component of overall wellbeing. Currently, she is among the selected professionals working with the Oman Vision 2040 Follow-up Office at the Ministry of Health. Our conversation explored how stress affects young people, what needs to be addressed, and how it can be managed effectively. During the conversation, we delved into the following key reflections:1. How can young people distinguish normal stress from psychological distress and burnout? Stress is a normal part of life, especially when we are studying, starting a career, or pursuing ambitious goals. The main question is not “Am I stressed?” but “Is this stress still helping me, or it has started to suffocate me and affect the way I function? This is a very important self-assessment. Normal stress usually improves when the pressure is reduced or the challenge is over. Psychological distress and burnout tend to persist. We may see emotional exhaustion, loss of motivation, difficulty concentrating, irritability, withdrawal from others, disrupted sleep, or feeling that even simple tasks have become overwhelming. A useful message for young people is: don’t wait until you completely break down to take your psychological health seriously. Early recognition is prevention. As the maxim goes: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 2. What are the deeper causes of burnout among young Omanis? I think we need to look beyond the individual. Young people today are navigating several pressures simultaneously: academic expectations, competition for employment, financial concerns, social expectations, family responsibilities, and the constant comparison created by social media. In our Omani context, there can also be a strong desire to make the family proud and to achieve stability and success at a relatively young age. The problem arises when young people begin to believe that their worth is measured by their achievements. When success becomes the only acceptable outcome, rest can feel like failure. And that is where healthy ambition can gradually turn into exhaustion. 3. When ambition becomes exhaustion, can the pressure to achieve and succeed turn ambition into burnout? Absolutely. Ambition itself is not the problem. The problem is when ambition becomes relentless pressure. We should realize that there is a big difference between, I want to achieve my goals and I must achieve my goals, otherwise I am not good enough. Healthy ambition allows room for rest, mistakes, learning and changing direction. Unhealthy achievement pressure leaves no room for being human. After all, to err is human; to forgive, divine. Our Holy Quran reminds us that “Allah does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear. It will have the reward of what it has earned, and it will bear the consequence of what it has earned.” We need to teach our young people that rest is not the opposite of productivity; it is part of sustainable performance. We learn from our failures and short comings. We should remember that life is a journey of continuous self improvement. We must encourage them to stay from being perfectionist. 4. What early warning signs of burnout should young people, families, and employers watch for? One of the most important signs is a change from the person’s usual self. We should take that as a baseline or the starting point. A young person who was normally engaged may become withdrawn. Someone who was motivated may suddenly lose interest. We may see persistent irritability, emotional exhaustion, difficulty concentrating, sleep changes, declining academic or work performance, frequent physical complaints, or losing pleasure in things they previously used to enjoy. Families and employers should pay attention not only to performance, but to functioning and wellbeing. And I would emphasize: one difficult week does not necessarily mean burnout. We become more concerned when changes are persistent, worsening, and affecting different areas of life. 5- Is burnout mainly an individual issue, or must workplaces and society share the responsibility? Burnout should never be framed simply as an individual’s failure to cope. There is an individual responsibility, but there is also an environmental responsibility. Young people need psychological skills such as emotional regulation, healthy boundaries, problem-solving and knowing when to ask for help. But organizations and institutions also have a responsibility to create reasonable workloads, supportive leadership, psychological safety, and cultures where asking for support is acceptable. We cannot teach a young person to manage stress while continuously placing them in an environment that generates unhealthy levels of stress. Wellbeing is a shared responsibility.6- How can we encourage young Omanis to seek psychological support without seeing it as weakness? We need to change the language around psychological support. Seeking help should not mean “There is something wrong with me.” It can simply mean “I recognize that I am going through something and I am choosing to deal with it early. We also need to normalize psychological support as part of maintaining health, not something reserved only for people experiencing severe mental health problems. Families, schools, universities, workplaces and healthcare professionals all have a role in creating safe spaces where young people can talk without immediately being judged or labelled. Sometimes the strongest sentence a young person can say is: I am not doing well, and I need some support. 7. What three pieces of advice would you give young Omanis to protect their psychological wellbeing while pursuing their ambitions? First: Don’t confuse your achievements with your identity. You are more than your grades, your job, your position or your accomplishments. Second: Build a sustainable definition of success. Success should include your health, relationships, values and sense of meaning, not only what appears on your CV. Third: Ask for help early. You don’t have to wait until a problem becomes a crisis. Speaking to someone you trust or seeking professional support is a sign of self awareness and responsibility. On a parting note, allow me to express my sincere gratitude to you and the editorial team at the Times of Oman for the opportunity to share these reflections with a vital segment of our society: our precious young people. I hope these words encourage them to pay heed to these matters, embrace a healthy and balanced lifestyle, and contribute positively to their country’s development while leading fulfilling lives.An Omani writer focusing on youth development and cultural issues.