Anxiety in Teens—Here’s How To Help Teenagers with Anxiety!
By Julia Salerno M.S., LAC
We all remember what it was like to be a teenager—some were a few years or decades ago, some still are and others have yet to be one. But being an teenager was an age of growth, curiosity, experimentation, lessons, energy, failure, and a lot of trial and error!
These was/is so much going on when you are/where a teenager and you face a lot of difficult challenges like dealing with friendships, doing well in school, manage extracurricular activities, and coping with changing hormones.
So, it’s no wonder that teens feel anxious, stressed and overwhelmed—they have a lot on their plates.
Now, while anxiety and stress are a normal part of growing up and a normal reaction to the stress that teens can experience, the feelings of anxiety for many teens can go well beyond the typical symptoms. For many teenagers, the majority the of their anxiety is connected to feelings about themselves. These may include academic performance and pressures to succeed, perfectionism, how they are perceived by others, and even concerns about their body image. So, when teen’s become overwhelmed by these factors it can begin to negatively affect their friendships, family relationships, participation in school, extracurricular activities, their school work and ultimately interfere with normal daily living.
So, what can you actually do for your anxious teen? How can you help a teenager with anxiety in 2023?
Tips On How To Help a Teenager with Anxiety
Social Media Detox—It’s okay to have them take a break from their phone—have them disconnect from Snapchat, Instagram, and Tik Tok and take a 30-minute break so that they can center themselves without any pressure from the social media world!
Learn When Anxiety Is Present—You have to know your anxiety and how it affects you, to be able to tackle it! Have your teen get curious with their anxiety—how does it feel when their anxiety is present? Do they feel physical sensations in their body? Does it make them want to cry? Give them a headache? Chest pain? or Tense muscles? Encourage them to take a moment to take a step back to examine how they feel.
Adopting A Non-judgmental Stance—Do NOT judge yourself or how you may feel. You are allowed to feel your emotions because they are your own.
Talk With Your Teen—Start a conversation with your teen by asking them to express their feelings about their worries. Simply telling a child not to worry or to stop thinking about their problems is neither supportive nor validating. It’s better to reassure your teen that it’s okay for them to be scared, and emphasize that you will be there to help them every step of the way.
Self-affirmations—Affirmations are positive, self-talk phrases that can be very helpful in combating anxiety! When we have negative thoughts about ourselves, we might say things like I’m not good enough, I’m too boring, or I’m always making mistakes in front of people. These self-deprecating thoughts keep us from living our lives to our fullest potential. Practice self-affirmation can help teens build confidence and develop an awareness of their strengths.
Gratitude Journal—Expressing gratitude has many positive effects! Keeping a journal with things you’re grateful for each day can help improve your teen’s mood and reduce their anxiety. So next time they are feeling anxious, have them write out things that they are grateful for or things they did well. Take the time and space to acknowledge and celebrate!
Grounding Exercises—When you are feeling anxious, it can be hard to control both your thoughts and emotions. Grounding exercises are techniques that allows you to refocus your attention back to the present moment, giving you a feeling of calmness which will allow you to better manage your anxiety in the next moment.
Anxiety is an unavoidable part of life, but we can help our teens learn how to cope with anxiety more effectively. If your teen has anxiety that is difficult for them to manage and is impacting their ability to function, we have a new teen anxiety group that is starting this summer! Scroll down to learn more about it!
