Anxiety In Adolescents: How To Detect It And What Can I Do To Help Them?
How can we know if our teenage son or daughter is suffering from anxiety? What can this disorder affect? Find out how we can help them cope.
In many cases it can be difficult to detect anxiety in adolescents, since they tend to hide their feelings and emotions. The symptoms of anxiety also vary from case to case. For example, some may have a tendency to avoid certain things, while others are more irritable or feel more attacked by others. Therefore, it is important to understand how the anxiety in teenagers
The teenagers with anxiety They tend to be worried about themselves, that is, about their performance in school, how others perceive them, or the changes they are experiencing in their body. Additionally, during adolescence, there is a greater tendency to suffer from social anxiety or even panic attacks. It is important to detect anxiety in adolescents because this disorder can lead to other problems that can affect their self-esteem, their school performance or even lead to other disorders such as depression.
What are the symptoms of anxiety in adolescents?
Even though the anxiety symptoms They may vary from one case to another, the reality is that there are some signs that may be common in the vast majority of cases. In fact, in many cases, anxiety is often overlooked in people of this age because they tend to hide their thoughts and feelings. Taking this into account, some of the symptoms that can help identify it are the following:
Recurring fear and worries: Although adolescents are usually at a time where different worries and fears arise, when it comes to anxiety, this translates into all aspects of daily life. Even small daily tasks can end up causing some fear.
Irritability and nervousness: Some teens with anxiety may end up feeling very irritable due to how they feel in their daily lives.
Problems concentrating: This may mean not being able to perform well enough in school. Furthermore, these problems can end up affecting your perception and self-esteem.
Extreme shyness or sensitivity to criticism: In many cases, people can feel very sensitive to certain situations, as they feel an extreme fear of being criticized by others.
Retirement and social isolation: Isolation can occur as a result of a teenager experiencing anxiety, especially in the case of social anxiety.
Stomach pain or headache: Anxiety can sometimes become somatized. Especially in cases where people suffer from a lot of anxiety.
Sleeping problems: Worries related to anxiety can end up interfering with our sleep. So, in many cases, teenagers may experience problems getting deep, restful sleep.
Substance abuse: Some teens may try to relieve anxiety through substances such as alcohol or other drugs.
These are some of the signs that may indicate that teenagers suffer from anxiety If you think this may be the case of someone close to you, it is important that this person go to a psychologist who specializes in this disorder.
What is the treatment for anxiety in adolescents?
The most effective treatment for treat anxiety in adolescents is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This therapy focuses mainly on giving adolescents different strategies to think or approach problems differently. By tolerating anxiety rather than avoiding the things that trigger it, your symptoms will eventually decrease over time. That is, they will stop avoiding those things that trigger anxiety in order to confront them, which will end up reducing or even eliminating their anxiety. In addition, there are other psychological treatments that can give good results for anxiety in adolescents. These may include therapies focused on artistic expression, among others.
In many cases it can Difficult to detect anxiety in adolescents, since they tend to hide their feelings and emotions. The symptoms of anxiety also vary from case to case. For example, some may have a tendency to avoid certain things, while others are more irritable or feel more attacked by others. Therefore, it is important to understand how anxiety can occur in adolescents.
My child has anxiety, what can they do?
If you feel that you teenage son or daughter may be suffering from anxiety we recommend that you take into account the following tips to help you:
Make them accept discomfort: Anxiety is unlikely to go away completely in different situations that encourage it, as it is completely natural to experience discomfort on some occasions. Those who suffer from it must accept that it is not an easy process and that overcoming it involves facing what makes us uncomfortable.
Encourage them to break the avoidance cycle: Given that avoidance behaviors can maintain anxiety and even make it worse, one of the best things teenagers can do with this problem is precisely to try to break the cycle of avoidance.
Set goals that are realistic: Anxiety must be worked on in small steps. This means starting small and choosing goals that are realistic and achievable. This may mean including goals such as joining a new activity that involves being in a group.
Teach them relaxation techniques: Relaxation can help you cope with certain situations that cause anxiety. This can be practicing finding activities like drawing, listening to music, practicing yoga, or even meditation.
Help him challenge certain beliefs: In addition to encouraging your teenage son or daughter to address situations that cause them anxiety, it is also important to make them reflect on the erroneous beliefs that can lead to increasing these worries or fears.
Go to therapy: If anxiety is affecting your son or daughter in too many ways, it is important that you go to a psychologist specialized in treating adolescents. This specialist will help you cope with anxiety and, above all, prevent it from intervening in your life.
These are some of the tips that you can keep in mind if you think that your son or daughter is suffering from anxiety during his adolescence. This disorder can end up affecting your son or daughter’s life in many ways, so it is important to be attentive to any signs that you are facing this psychological problem.
