Parenting Tips: How to Help Your Teenager With Anxiety

Many assume that anxiety only affects adults and that teens are just acting up. The truth is that anyone can get anxious, regardless of their age. 

Surprisingly, teens suffer from many types of anxiety disorders. These include panic disorder, separation anxiety, and social anxiety. It’s even worse for teens because untreated anxiety can affect them as adults. So, what can you do? 

How to Tell If Your Teen Is Anxious 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 3.6% of teens from 10 to 14 years old have an anxiety disorder. It’s higher for teens between 15 and 19, at 4.6%. 

It’s important that you ensure that you reach out to you child to know whether they’re developing anxiety. Know their fears, their dreams, and their wants. Of course, parents know their children well. But to know when a child is suffering from anxiety, you have to do more. Here’s how to know if your teen needs help. 

Did Your Teen Have a Traumatic Event Recently? 

A traumatic event can put someone’s life at risk, so they may experience emotional, physical, or psychological distress that can interrupt their daily activities. You might notice your teen is avoiding friends, or their performance in school changed after the traumatic experience. 

Teens can even be affected by the traumatic experiences of their friends since a peer group is a support system for them.  

Does Your Teen Exhibit General Anxiety? 

When a teen has a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), they seem anxious and afraid, and you can’t pinpoint a particular cause. Sometimes, they become more anxious or fearful than is necessary. 

In such situations, you’ll notice they fear school projects, issues in the family, something they did in the past, or even something they hope to do in the future. GAD has both a biological and environmental origin. As such, a child may inherit this tendency or learn it from the environment. 

How Often Does Your Teen Experience Panic Attacks? 

Watching your teen have a panic attack is a painful experience. They may complain of emotional and physical symptoms like chest pains, dizziness, fear, and numbness. 

Does Your Teen Exhibit Separation Anxiety? 

Separation anxiety is a normal phase for toddlers and infants. They outgrow it when they’re about three years old. It becomes a problem when a child fails to outgrow the fear and carries it into their teen years as a symptom of separation anxiety disorder. 

Separation anxiety in a teen can arise from issues in the family, such as divorce, death, and transitions. For instance, your teenager might be reluctant to transition to a new school.  

How to Help Your Teen Cope With Anxiety 

Some causes of anxiety are beyond your control, such as your family’s history of mental illness. However, you can influence your child’s mental health in the following ways. 

Offer Supportive Parenting 

When a child doesn’t outgrow fears, it may become an anxiety disorder. Therefore, you can help them cope with worries and be involved in their lives through reassurance. However, how you assist them can also prevent them from dealing with such anxieties in the future. Needless to say, they should also develop coping skills.  

For example, where a child has a social phobia, you may assume that not hosting guests will help them with their worries, but this may affect their socializing ability later on. 

Teach Your Teen How to Solve Problems 

When teens know how to solve problems, they will not be afraid of facing them. However, even as you instill these skills, allow your teen to practice by solving the issues they’re facing as you guide them. Additionally, avoid giving too much praise, as that’ll raise the expectations so high that your kid might feel the pressure to have you praise them repeatedly. 

Listen Respectfully 

When your teen is willing to talk it out, listen without judging them. You can also help your teen trace the anxiety trigger and remind them of situations in the past when they overcame anxiety so well. 

Plan Transitions in Advance 

Transitioning to a new region, school, or school schedule might be one of the causes of your teen’s anxiety. Therefore, have conversations with your teen about these changes. Talk about the benefits, plus the stress that comes with transitioning. On top of that, you can organize ways for your child to stay connected to former classmates or friends. 

Validate Your Teenager’s Fears 

It’s one of the support mechanisms that can help your child cope with the situation. Sometimes, your teen’s actions will make you want to respond negatively, but controlling your words can show you respect and listen to your child.  

Help, Then Reason With Your Teen Later 

An anxious moment isn’t the best place to start a conversation about how to cope with anxiety. Instead, help your teen relax. For example, have simple breathing exercises together where you breathe in, hold and breathe out.  

Get Through a Conflict Together 

Reflect and find solutions to conflicts together. It’ll help you learn how your teen wants you to treat them. It reduces their anxiety, and they’ll also want to open up to you about situations affecting them. 

Look for Appropriate Anxiety Therapy 

There are therapies that could turn to to help your teenager with anxiety. For instance, cognitive behavioral therapy is becoming a viable option for mental health issues such as anxiety disorders.  

Another option that’s becoming more and more popular is CBD oil, which according to several users, can help reduce anxiety in teens who’ve tried other treatments unsuccessfully. However, you should note that more research still needs to be done to validate the effectiveness of this alternative treatment. You will need to consult a doctor to see if any of the treatments or therapies is suited for your kid.  

Get Expert Assistance 

Some issues, such as when separation anxiety turns into episodes of panic attacks, need expert help. Additionally, in the case of drug use, it might be better for your teenager to talk to a counselor.  

Final Thoughts 

We have established that teens also experience anxiety and worry. When they don’t get help, the problem can affect them later in adulthood. Therefore, listen and watch how your teenager behaves to know what’s triggering their anxiety. It might be a conflict between you and them or between you and your spouse.  

On the other hand, it might be an issue like transitioning to a new school or class. Whatever the cause, since it’s affecting your child’s well-being, you need to identify it. Once you do, equip your teen with the skills to solve it. The two of you will have such a better relationship when you sort out your teen’s anxiety.