Anxiety in teenagers is on the increase. More and more young teens are having anxiety disorder symptoms such as tachycardia, dizziness, shortness of breath, or loss of control.
Health professionals warn that social pressures are leading adolescents to develop phobias and wonder if anxiety in teens is increasing.
Anxiety in Teenagers and Why It is Happening
If your children suffer from anxiety, calm them with the help of experts as the disorder is not the end of the world and is treatable.
To combat anxiety disorders, therapists teach teens to accept uncertainty, be patient and let go the obsession to control everything and correct certain habits as, for example, seeking to know constantly if something happened to a loved one.
Puberty is a sensitive stage of life. And anxiety disorders are happening more frequently now.
When childhood comes to an end, family and society expects the adolescent to assume the responsibilities of adult life. And that expectation creates fear in young people.
In adolescence, teenagers also begin to be aware that they are not immortal, and that they are going to die one day. All this leads to an increase in anxiety in teenagers.
Today, anxiety disorders start to be diagnosed at the age of 14, and in some cases even earlier. The symptoms tend to be chronic, but have a good prognosis if the teenager self-identifies symptoms that lead to problems with anxiety in adolescents.
1. ANXIETY DISORDER EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS
- Concern
- Fear
- Insecurity
- Difficulty in deciding something
- Negative thoughts about yourself
- Negative thoughts about your performance against peers
- Fear of realizing difficulties
- Fear of loss of control
- Difficulty in thinking, studying or concentrating, etc.
- Going from one place to another without a particular purpose
- Mourning and being paralyzed, etc.
2. ANXIETY DISORDER PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS
- Sweating
- Muscle tension
- Palpitations
- Tachycardia
- Tremors
- Avoidance of feared situations
- Smoking or eating and drinking in excess
- Discomfort in the stomach and other gastric discomforts
- Difficulty in breathing, dry mouth, and difficulty in swallowing
- A headache, dizziness, nausea, upset stomach, headaches, shivering, etc.
- Motor restlessness (repetitive, scratching, touch, etc.)
- Stuttering
NO OVERPROTECTION
You can define overprotection as the use of excessive caution and protective behaviors. It is known that high levels of overprotection are associated with high levels of anxiety in teens and children with social phobia.
Overprotective parents protect their child from the adversities of life. These parents believe that everything outside the home is risky. And these parents also believe you should be wary when leaving the family circle.
Though acting with the best of intentions, being overprotective prevents teenagers from learning how to deal with adversity. And they will tend to avoid any risk in their lives. It has been identified that families with this style of behavior tend to be very consenting.
Some parents transmit their fears to their children of the dangers, and in this case, it is they who do not allow the teenager to be separated. This behavior will only increase anxiety in teenagers.
Adolescence is a stage of life where children are separated from their parents and are building their identity. Separation anxiety can interfere with this process for healthy development. And it will limit the normal growth of a teenager.
Belly pain, dizziness, difficulty getting out of bed, poor appetite, anger and anguish, are some of the problems that adolescents with separation anxiety experience. And they feel they cannot go to school, do programs with friends or go camping.
You need to monitor anxiety in teenagers and more help provided on a nationwide basis. It can be a very stressful time in a young person’s life and they need all the help they can get.