Stress Weakened Immune System: Why Teens Can Get Sick Often & How to Help
November 28, 2025
Has your teen been getting sick a lot? Perhaps missing school or sports practice? Do they have a lot on their shoulders, but keep falling behind due to illness? If so, you may have a teenager who is experiencing a stress-weakened immune system.
Sometimes our bodies force us to rest if we have been too busy to take time out. This may be because stress has a significant effect on our immune system, weakening it often when we need our health the most.
Teens growing up today have countless stressors, and unfortunately, an overloaded teen is more likely to become ill. Even if they are healthy overall, the stress of school, relationships, extracurriculars, hormones, and new responsibilities can take a toll on an adolescent’s body.
To help you better understand the stress weakened immune system teens can experience, this page explores:
- Why stressed teens become sick
- The physical toll of chronic stress
- The mental and physical impact of untreated stress
- Chronic stress symptoms in teens
- Daily support and therapy for stressed teenagers
- Where to find professional support
Why Do Stressed Teens Get Sick?
Psychologists often talk about how the mind and body are inherently linked. Therefore, the chronic stress symptoms teens often experience can lead to frequent illness. In other words, what is happening in our bodies can directly affect our minds and vice versa. This is because, for teens (and adults), stress hormones like cortisol can have an impact on the immune system.
Physical Toll of Stress Adolescence: The Role of the Immune System
Our immune system is like having a strong internal army. It aims to keep us healthy and strong, and makes us better when we are ill.
However, when we’re stressed, our in-built alarm system is triggered. This means that we enter fight, flight, or freeze mode in response to a perceived threat. Therefore, chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol are released to motivate us to respond.
In the short term, this increase in chemicals can be useful, but over time, it takes a toll on the immune system and can lead to inflammation. Therefore, if a teen is chronically stressed, not eating healthily, or not sleeping enough, their body may find coping with daily demands challenging.
Teens are already dealing with one of the largest transitional periods humans go through: puberty. So it’s imperative to their mental stability and health to help them reduce the impact of the stress negative mind body connection teens can experience.1
Long-term Physical Impacts of Stress Weakened Immune System
When high stress goes untreated, there’s an increased risk of developing mental health conditions such as depression. However, it’s also linked to higher levels of inflammation in the body.
As a result, chronic inflammation from untreated stress can result in:
Arthritis- Fibromyalgia
- Lupus
- Psoriasis
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Further, if not treated, high stress levels can even lead to cardiovascular problems and heart disease.3 Therefore, early intervention is often required to minimize the physical toll of stress adolescence can cause.
What Happens When Stress Goes Untreated?
As discussed, when a teen is experiencing chronic stress, it can exhaust the body’s resources and weaken the immune system. What happens when the body’s major defenses are lowered can be extremely damaging to overall health. It becomes easier for infections, harmful bacteria, and other damaging diseases to wreak havoc on the body.
But stress doesn’t just take a physical toll. It can also affect our mental health and cause ongoing issues, such as:2
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Cognitive difficulties
- Disturbed sleep
- Mental overwhelm
These difficulties can be challenging enough on their own. However, when left untreated, they can exacerbate physical health issues and worsen mental health symptoms. For this reason, adolescent burnout symptoms should be taken into consideration. But what are these symptoms?
Chronic Stress Symptoms in Teens
When stress starts to look like illness, it may be time to see a healthcare professional. As mentioned previously, several physical and mental health conditions are linked to chronic stress.
Stress’ impact on teen health and mental stress can include:
- Fatigue
- Muscle pain
- Skin problems
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Weight changes (loss or gain)
- Increased blood pressure
- More frequent illnesses
In addition to these issues, stress and inflammation can also cause cardiovascular problems like a racing heart, increased steroid hormones, nervous system difficulties, and even reproductive problems in adulthood.4
If your teen is experiencing issues such as the ones mentioned, it may be important to see a physician to rule out any medical conditions. However, if there are no underlying physical contributors, they may recommend seeking mental health support.
Support and Therapy for Stressed Teenagers
Professional Help for Overwhelmed Teens
A teen mental health assessment can help you and your teen determine the most suitable therapeutic approach for their needs. However, talk therapy is typically the first line approach for stressed teens, and options like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have even been shown to have a positive impact on the immune system.5Just as with adults, therapy for stressed teenagers provides them with someone to talk with about what is bothering them and why. It teaches them to identify thought distortions, pinpoint inaccuracies in these thoughts, and to challenge them. It also encourages behaviors that could reduce stress, for example, through exposure. In other words, talk therapies can help a teen better understand themselves, identify their triggers, and take steps to heal.
Daily Stress Coping Teens
One way to manage stress at home is to use daily coping skills that can be practiced anywhere when the teen is feeling overwhelmed. Grounding techniques, meditation, mindfulness, and breathwork are some tools that can help teens manage their feelings. However, if chronic stress is affecting a teen’s well-being, these techniques are best used as an accompaniment to therapy.
Below is a list of coping skills you can practice and teach at home:
Grounding: A technique used to cope with anxiety or racing thoughts. For example, you could try the 54321 rule. This involves identifying five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.6
- Meditation: This is a method that has been used for thousands of years to relax and lower stress. You can practice it by sitting or lying on the ground and allowing your thoughts to come and go without the need to react.7
- Mindfulness: Similar to meditation, mindfulness is a mental training to allow a teen to be more present in daily actions.8 A simple way of practicing it could involve sitting for five minutes and drinking your morning tea or coffee without your phone or other media device. Alternatively, you could try mindful walks or breathing.
- Breathwork: This involves using conscious breaths to soothe the body and mind. One technique is box breathing, as it requires equal breathing. To practice it, breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, breathe out for four seconds, hold for four seconds, and repeat four times or more if needed.9
Aside from these coping skills, other techniques can boost the stress weakened immune system teens can experience. These include:
Keeping a journal- Taking time out for hobbies (such as listening to music, reading, or watching a show)
- Hanging out with friends
- Volunteering
- Making a to-do list and marking off what does not have to be accomplished
- Laughing2
When a teen you care about is stressed, remind them about what is important. While it’s important not to minimize their challenges, increasing feelings of gratitude can help.
Immune Boosting Techniques
In addition to professional support and coping skills at home, there are several ways that you can give your teen an immune boost when they are struggling with stress management. These are not supplements; they are simply ways to help your teen have the best chance at staying healthy and happy, even through life’s many hurdles.
To help boost your teen’s immune system, you could aim to ensure they…10
Are eating a healthy diet of whole foods, including vegetables and fruit, and hydrating adequately.- Get enough exercise, as it boosts the immune system, reduces inflammation, and tires the mind and body out enough to rest.
- Practice good hygiene, for example, washing their hands to prevent the spread of germs.
- Are getting enough sleep, as most teens need eight to ten hours per day. Creating a sleep hygiene routine may help.
- Spend time in sunlight each day, as this can boost vitamin D and regulate melatonin levels to improve sleep.
If your teen is doing all of these things and still feeling stressed, it’s important to communicate this with a healthcare provider.
Mission Prep: Help for Overwhelmed Teens
If your teen’s physical and mental wellness is impacted by chronic stress, it’s important to intervene early to help them better balance their life. Our habits as teens can easily continue into adulthood. However, fortunately, the brain is highly plastic, so adolescence is the perfect time to make positive changes.
At Mission Prep, we can help your teen cope with daily stress and avoid burnout. By using several evidence-based therapies, including mind-body approaches, we can provide a teen with the tools they need to manage life’s challenges. Contact our team today if you’re interested in learning more about what we have to offer and how we can help your teen achieve better physical and mental health.
References
- Dollarhide, M. (2025, January 17). Stress can weaken teens’ immune systems—Here’s how to protect them. Parents. https://www.parents.com/strong-link-between-stress-and-sickness-how-to-protect-your-teen-8774159
- Mayo Clinic. (n.d.). Chronic stress puts your health at risk. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037
- Cleveland Clinic. (2023, December 1). Yes, there is such a thing as stress sickness. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-happens-when-your-immune-system-gets-stressed-out
- American Psychological Association. (2023, March 8). Stress effects on the body. https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/body
- American Psychiatric Association. (n.d.). Boosting the immune system: An added benefit of psychotherapy. https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/boosting-the-immune-system-an-added-benefit
- University of Rochester Medical Center. (n.d.). 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique for anxiety. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/behavioral-health-partners/bhp-blog/april-2018/5-4-3-2-1-coping-technique-for-anxiety
- Mayo Clinic. (n.d.). A beginner’s guide to meditation. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858
- Black, D. S., & Slavich, G. M. (2016). Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1373(1), 13–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12998
- Cleveland Clinic. (2021, August 17). How box breathing can help you destress. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/box-breathing-benefits
- Wempen, K. (2022, November 16). Fight off the flu with immune-boosting nutrients. Mayo Clinic Health System. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/fight-off-the-flu-with-nutrients
