Teenage Anxiety

How often do we hear that school days are the best days of our life? This is often a rose-tinted view that we have when we look back at being young and carefree. However, when we really think back to the exam stress, the peer pressure, the fear of feeling different, fear of missing out; for many of us, those days were far from stress-free. Factor in Social Media and the lockdowns of the past year or so and we can see why many of our teens and pre-teens are suffering from unprecedented levels of anxiety, panic attacks and other debilitating mental health issues.

There are some simple tricks that we can all use to work on lowering our anxiety levels, these include focused breathing exercises. Grounding techniques such as the 3-3-3 Rule (look around you name three things that you can see, then three sounds that you can hear and then move three parts of your body - perhaps tap your feet, wiggle your toes and nod your head) Staying hydrated is also important when we feel anxious or stressed. We also know that sleep plays a huge part in reducing anxiety, especially REM sleep, which is where our brain gets to process the events of the day, so make sure there is a good sleep routine in place. Encouraging your teenager to think about what’s been good each day, even on days they have found really tough, helps to encourage a flow of serotonin - which is an immediate mood booster. Getting out and getting moving is also great for getting the serotonin flowing - so a walk, a run or a working out will all help.

The young people I work with tell me that they enjoy the process of the sessions and feel empowered to know how anxiety is created in the brain and what we can do about it.