Kids can definitely have stress! Have you asked him what's going on at school? Maybe he's being bullied. Or maybe his teacher is screaming at the class. My daughter is normally cheerful and easy going but last year she had a mentally deranged teacher or insulted kids and humiliated them in front of the class. My daughter - who was 9 at the time - actually started wetting her bed at night! We couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. When she began to have stomach aches every morning we took her to the doctor. The doctor discovered the problem with the teacher. Even though we asked her about school so many times, she never told us. I don't know if she thought we wouldn't believe her or what but somehow the doctor got her to spill the beans. We figured we couldn't fix the teacher, so we switched our daughter to another school and voila - no more problems!

School can cause stress but I think plenty of kids get stress right at home. A lot of parents have lousy marriages or they're in the middle of nasty divorces and all the bickering really causes stress for kids. Or even if the marriage is fine, there's a lot of chaos and yelling and drama in some homes - I don't know what's going on in this kid's home but the parents should ask themselves how peaceful a household it really is. Maybe the kid just can't take it anymore.

My daughter was stressed-out this year from friendship problems. She had a best friend and then someone "stole" the friend away from her and then there was a lot of gossip and drama. My daughter is very sensitive and she couldn't handle the situation. We took her to a therapist for a few sessions and I don't know exactly what the lady did, but my daughter was fine after that even though she never got her friend back.

It's a good point you make about the therapist - a lot of people never think about that for their kids. But why not? Kids really get depressed and anxious and all stressed-out - why shouldn't they have the same kind of help as older people? Of course, a parent can also try some "counseling" at home like listening to the kid without correcting him or judging him. That's very therapeutic. Or helping the kid to problem solve. Also parents can teach kids how to handle their stress by slowing down their schedule, relaxing, having warm baths, listening to very calming music.  If you give a kid some tools, he'll handle his stress better.

These are really good ideas. There's something else you could try for a stressed-out kid: Bach Flowers. Adults get to take meds when they're depressed or stressed but you don't want to start with that stuff for kids unless they're really badly off. But for regular "life is hard" stress, Bach Flowers are perfect for kids. When my kids get irritable, snappy and miserable, I get a mixture made up by a Bach Flower Practitioner. It works like magic and its harmless. I take them for my own stress too. Everyone gets stressed - everyone can use the flower therapy.