“Young people . . . are able . . . to recover from the ill effects of excessive stress more rapidly than older people,” say the authors of Teenage Stress. Twenty-three year old Vincenza from New York is an example of this. She tells:

“When I was in my teens, my mom died of cancer. Eighteen months later, my dad suddenly died of a heart attack. I was left alone with my two younger brothers. Then I met this guy and became his girlfriend. But after a couple of months we broke up. Sometimes I wondered, ‘Should I kill myself, or go crazy, or end up in a madhouse?’” Could Vincenza survive this most stressful situation? Says she: “Now when I think of it, I can’t believe I lived through it. But I did! And I learned a lot.”

Additionally, Vincenza learned from her aunt, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, about the Bible hope that the dead will be resurrected in a future paradise on earth. (John 5:28, 29) “Although a Catholic at the time, I put all my trust in this newfound Bible hope. It helped immensely,” she says.​—Compare 2 Corinthians 1:9.

What happened to Vincenza after having lost her mother, father, and boyfriend? She tells: “I had to find someone that I could not lose. I had to love someone that I knew was never going to leave me. Then I thought: ‘God, of course! He is always there. He must become my Father. He is the Creator of the Universe.’ So I prayed: ‘If you, Jehovah, are the real God, the Creator of the Universe, I am one that wants to serve you. Please, come and tell me that.’ Later, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door and she said: ‘I’m here because somebody loves you.’” Vincenza accepted a Bible study. She learned to do what is said at 1 Peter 5:7: “Throw all your anxiety upon him [God], because he cares for you.” She is now teaching others to do this.