What is TEEN?
What is the problem?
The modern teen brain experiences academic and social pressure to constantly be productive and perfect, yet mental health services are only given after you express serious issues. Biomedical researchers have developed methods for measuring and potentially preventing overstress in people, but high schools aren’t equipped with these strategies to measure or alleviate rigorous stress in their students.
The solution
TEEN (Towards Emotional Excellence for Newbies) is a guidebook for developed using biomedical and psychology research findings to measure and help reduce daily student stress. The TEEN guidebook will provide definitions of stress (burnout, anxiety, depression) and solutions to deal with these mental health issues. Anushka will collaborate with her school’s science department to learn more about bio-signals (heart rate variability, pulse and pO2) and design a wearable bracelet. The project will present bio data collected from anonymous students and offer strategies to promote better mental health practices in high schoolers.
Why is it important to study stress?
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Help find health issues in young people sooner
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Gave awareness of how stress impacts performance
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Girls reach maturity faster and deal with being in the same age group as boys who are immature
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Girls have to deal with more medical issues sooner in life
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Girls have to deal with more medical worries sooner (always)
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Girls are trained to be positive and physically fit/pretty but also smart, athletic and independent
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Boys are emotionally closed off from expressing issues with mental health and stress (they are trained to handle everything like “tough men”)
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Sleep difficulties, irritability, heachaches all are associated with stress
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Everyone needs help to be less stressed earlier in life and have tools to deal with stress and grow
Findings from 2025 European study:
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Girls reported more frequent health complaints than boys across all age groups.
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Almost twice as many 15-year-olds (13% for boys and 28% for girls) than 11-year-olds (8% for boys and 14% for girls) reported feeling lonely in the last year
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The persistent mental health concerns of 15-year-old girls across countries and regions highlight the need to implement targeted interventions in school curricula.