Anxiety is just another part of our life. It can be good or bad, depending on the situation and how the feelings are dealt with. Still today more and more teens are suffering from imbalance of this vital but dreadful human psychosocial entity.
What is anxiety? In a general sense anxiety means to worry, feel stress, concern or nervousness; sometimes even panic. For many of teens, the anxiety is only felt during situations that involve stress such as before taking an important exam or while waiting for a date- especially when it’s their first date or just early phase of it. It is when the level of anxiety interferes with the ability to function normally in daily life that problems arise.
Undoubtedly, life had become more demanding to all of us, including toddlers- consider how it has to fight with the adverse effect of distance with working parents and having to adjust to new people like maids and day care centers etc.
Similarly, teens are facing more challenges in life than ever before. Teens have always faced challenges and worries such as whether they will do well on exam or whether the right person will be willing to date them- why am I mentioning dating so much? Believe me; to them it’s a big deal, even though it might not be for us.
Today, there are so many unique, new challenges that teens can fall into an anxiety pattern. These challenges were not faced on the same level by generations of teens in the past. For example, Will I get into a college? Will I be safe from crime? Will someone shoot me while attending school?
A teen that is experiencing anxiety is not crazy! Neither has he/she gone “nuts”. If the anxiety has developed to the point that the teen is unable to function normally, they may have developed an anxiety disorder which can be treated successfully by trained medical professionals such as psychiatrists and therapists.
There are several different types of anxiety disorders, all of which can affect teens. All of these disorders respond to therapy once diagnosed by a qualified professional. Sometimes these disorders also require prescription medication. These treatments can allow a teen with an anxiety disorder to be productive and live a happy, normal life- bottom line is… don’t be afraid of being labeled as psycho, when if you think you need help for your anxiety issues, please do seek help.
