Woe Is Me for I Am a Teenage Girl

Being a teenage girl isn’t always easy. For instance, I am tired all the time. I could sleep for 24 hours and wake up tired. I am sure there are many scientific reasons or explanations to why teenagers are tired, but all I know is that I long for my bed and heated blanket like a WW2 wife yearns for her husband.

For the average teenager, sleep is the best and worst thing in the world. On one hand, sleep interrupts late night gaming, test cramming, movies, and anything else the usual young adult does in the comfort of their room. On the other hand, sleeping is the joy for those who come home after using their brain for 7 or more hours. Being able to fall into a soft bed, wrap yourself up in blankets like a swaddled infant without a care for the world, and shut tired eyes that have been burned from staring at a screen displaying online equations or essays long overdue is what living is truly made for.

The modern teenager in America faces and deals with many issues that have not been seen in years before them. Things parents can’t guide their children through are growing to the point a canyon has formed between generations. To name a few stressors that have impacted me and every person I know that is my age, here is a list of the most pressing issues teenagers have to deal with blindly in this electronic world: Social media popularity contests, anonymous messaging, reminders of evil via news outlets, depression and anxiety running off the charts, and, most importantly, the issues that have plagued the modern teenager as result of Covid-19 lockdowns.

As a 2007 baby, the last issue really affected my life. Lockdowns during my middle school years stunted my understanding of social interactions, trust of media and government, education due to inadequate teaching methods, health mentality and physically, and relationships with those around me that are not my age. Though many of these issues have been solved for me through therapy, I can name many dear friends of mine that suffer still from the results of covid lockdowns.

In recent years (as in this year), I, and many others, have been diagnosed with a chronic illness due to getting covid all the way back in 2020. This disease is known as POTS or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Basically when I stand up too fast(especially after skipping a meal or just waking up) all my blood rushes to my feet. As a way to fix this issue, my body puts itself where the blood is—on the floor. Since getting diagnosed I’ve read about my illness a lot and found that almost 30% of all people who got long covid now have pots. This fact was shocking to me at first because I was one of the few to have covid and be asymptomatic.

So, being a teenager sucks. In this year alone I have been diagnosed with pots, depression, anxiety, ADD, and caught a bad case of pneumonia that will likely affect my immune system for years to come. In the midst of all this I have had to keep all A’s and B’s, study for classes, and deal with the struggles of being the oldest child. All I want at the end of the day is to lay down and sleep.

Please, parents, if you see that your teenager is exhausted or tired just let them sleep. Let them sleep away the issues of the world and, for at least an hour or two, let them rest their mind, soul, and body.

Thank you, sweet dreams, and goodnight.