How to Help Teenagers Deal with Anxiety

Being a teenager is a very difficult stage of life for many people. They have to deal with the social pressures, doing well in school, as well as trying to cope with all of the teenage hormones that really affect the way that they feel. Many teenagers suffer in silence with anxiety. Feeling anxious is something that could prevent your teenager from socializing or participating in other activities that they could benefit from. It is important that teenagers are able to recognize the symptoms of anxiety, so that they can learn effective coping mechanisms that will allow them to learn how to work through difficult emotions all by themselves. In this article, we are going to discuss all of the ways you can help your teenager deal with anxiety.

Help Them Recognize the Patterns

One of the greatest things that you can do to help your teenager deal with their anxiety is to help them recognize the symptoms that happen as they feel anxious. Once they have the ability to recognize the symptoms, they will be able to find correlations or triggers that cause them to feel anxious. This will give both you and your teenager a better idea of why they get anxious in the first place. This will help both of you as you create a plan customized to help them better manage feelings of anxiety.

Take Them to Counseling

One of the most important things you can do to help your teenager if they are struggling with anxious feelings is take them to counseling. Counselors are professionally trained to help people who suffer from anxiety. Teen counseling will help your teenager learn different strategies and coping mechanisms for their anxieties. It gives your teenager a safe space where they can speak freely about everything that is going on in their life. Oftentimes, teenagers do not feel very comfortable communicating with their parents about all of their difficulties, so having a counselor will allow them to be completely open and transparent about all of their problems.

Teach Them Breathing Techniques

Oftentimes, symptoms of anxiety will include a rapid heartbeat and hyperventilating. Practicing mindful breathing is a great way to help your teenager manage anxious feelings that may arise. Being intentional about how they breathe will help them slow the release of stress hormones into the body. Have them take slow, deep breaths. The idea is to focus all of their mental energy on their breathing rather than on the anxious thoughts. Taking slow, deep, controlled breaths will help calm both their body and their minds and will definitely help them manage anxious feelings they may be experiencing.

Teach Them a Growth Mindset

Teaching your teenagers how to have a growth mindset is essential in helping your teenager manage and overcome their anxiety. Sometimes, people let themselves be defined by their anxiety, but teaching your teens that they do not have to be defined by it is so powerful in helping them deal with their struggles. Teach them that if they believe that they can do something, they can. That does not mean that it will be an easy process, but they will still be able to accomplish their goal of helping them reduce their anxious feelings.

Conclusion

It can be extremely difficult to watch your teenager try to deal with anxiety. It is important to know that they can manage their anxiety. All About You Therapy Services really wants to help your teenager work through their anxiety. Contact us today to make an appointment with one of our amazing staff members.