All posts tagged anxiety

A Parent’s Guide to Helping Teenagers Battling Anxiety

A Parent’s Guide to Helping Teenagers Battling Anxiety

By Full Editorial on

Parenting a teenager is no easy task. As your child transitions into adolescence, they will go through a range of physical and emotional changes. One of the parents’ most common challenges is helping their teenager manage anxiety. Anxiety is a natural stress response, but it can interfere with daily life when it becomes excessive. As a parent, it’s important to understand how to support your teenager through this process. Anxiety is a common mental health issue affecting teenagers, and parents need to know how to help their children navigate it.

Here is a parent’s guide to helping teenagers battling anxiety.

1. Understand Anxiety

The first step in helping your teenager deal with anxiety is understanding what it is and how it affects them. Anxiety is a natural stress response, but it can become a mental health disorder when it becomes excessive. Anxiety symptoms include restlessness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and physical symptoms such as sweating or rapid heartbeat.

2. Communicate with Your Teenager

Open communication is critical when it comes to dealing with anxiety. Ensure your teenager knows they can talk to you about their feelings without fear of judgment or criticism. Please encourage them to express their emotions and listen to them without interruption or judgment.

3. Encourage Healthy Habits

Encourage your teenager to develop healthy habits that can help manage anxiety. These habits include regular exercise, healthy eating, and good sleep habits. Encourage your teenager to find hobbies or activities that they enjoy, and that can help them relax.

4. Seek Professional Help

If your teenager is struggling with anxiety, finding a counselor to help is essential. A counselor can help teenagers develop coping skills and provide a safe space to discuss their feelings. Look for a counselor who has experience working with teenagers and anxiety. You can find a counselor by asking for recommendations from your healthcare provider or school counselor.

5. Develop a Plan

Please work with your teenager and their counselor to develop a plan to manage anxiety. This plan may include deep breathing, mindfulness, or journaling strategies. Encourage your teenager to use these strategies when they feel anxious, and make sure they know it’s okay to take a break when needed.

6. Be Supportive

It’s essential to support your teenager throughout their journey with anxiety. Remember that anxiety can be a long-term issue; you must show your teenager that you are there for them, no matter what. Encourage your teenager to take small steps towards managing their anxiety and celebrate their successes.

As a parent, helping your teenager navigate through anxiety can be a challenging task. It’s essential to understand anxiety, communicate with your teenager, encourage healthy habits, seek professional help, develop a plan, and be supportive. Remember that every teenager is unique, and their anxiety journey may differ. With the proper support and guidance, your teenager can develop the skills needed to manage their anxiety and live a fulfilling life. If you need assistance, don’t hesitate to contact a professional counselor with experience working with teenagers and anxiety.

Remember that managing anxiety is a process and may take time. Be patient and kind to yourself as you work on battling anxiety.

Dealing with Anxiety, How Can You Control it?

Dealing with Anxiety, How Can You Control it?

By Article Editor on

Nowadays, it seems as though mental health has been on the forefront of the collective minds of society. With the global pandemic and ongoing restrictions felt nationwide, the ramifications of these closings and changes in daily living have taken a severe toll on people’s mental health.

Anxiety is a mental health condition, characterized by intrusive thoughts, continuous worrying, rapid heart rate, and even panic attacks. Anxiety can cause debilitating symptoms, sometimes so severe that it hinders daily activities. Anxiety is also one of the most common mental health issues. As many as 40 million Americans suffer from at least some form of anxiety. Fortunately, there are a multitude of options one can explore to help alleviate such troubling symptoms and improve quality of life.

One of the most common and problematic symptoms of anxiety is shallow breathing. This is often described as the feeling of not being able to take in a full breath, or even as though an elephant is sitting on one’s chest. Shallow breathing can even lead to a full blown panic attack. Simple, controlled breathing exercises are one of the most effective ways to regulate anxiety. Many high profile figures such as Andrew Napolitano have spoken about the benefits of controlled breathing techniques in helping to reduce anxiety and symptoms of stress.

Anxiety usually manifests itself in physical symptoms. These symptoms are ultimately exacerbated when a large amount of cortisol is present in the system. Cortisol, otherwise known as the “stress hormone”, is produced when the brain senses an impending threat. When a person doesn’t get a good night’s sleep, the brain often perceives just about everything as a threat. Furthermore, a person who suffers from anxiety will often find it difficult to fall asleep, due to a racing mind flipping through all of the “what if” scenarios. This ultimately becomes a difficult cycle to break free from. One of the best natural ways to reduce anxiety and stress is to achieve a good night’s sleep by getting regular exercise. Exercise not only releases endorphins which can improve mood and anxiety, but it is also physically exerting. Many people who suffer from stress find that a daily jog or weight lifting session can not only relieve symptoms of anxiety, but it also helps them get a good night’s sleep, which can often help improve anxiety symptoms.

Some people suffering from anxiety may have tried just about everything to alleviate their symptoms, but still need a little extra help to truly address their mental health needs. Trained therapists are licensed individuals who are skilled in therapeutic techniques which are proven in helping to alleviate symptoms associated with anxiety. Andrew Napolitano has suggested that therapy is an efficacious way to address anxiety symptoms and provide much needed relief to those who need it the most.

Those who suffer with anxiety often find it difficult to achieve relief from their symptoms, however, there is hope. With a bit of trial and error, as well as effective implementation of suggested tips and advice, symptom relief and an improved quality of life is truly possible.