Managing Teen Anxiety at School
The first day of school is upon us. Parents posting pictures of their children on Facebook. Children reluctantly posing, forcing smiles, wearing new clothes, and carrying new backpacks. This year, they are carrying more: masks, and the weight of anxiety.
Anxiety among teens is at an all-time high. Even before the pandemic, teen anxiety was pushing record highs with almost a third of teens suffering from an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives (Merikangas et. al, 2010). After the era of COVID-19, these problems are even more pronounced. In a national survey conducted in the Fall of 2020, half of teens aged 13-18 reported experiencing mental or emotional health challenges in the past month with the most common of these challenges being anxiety (Fluent Research & The Jed Foundation, 2020). Whether you are a parent, ministry leader, educator, or someone else with teens in your life who you care about, it is important to step back and consider what they are going through — and how we can help. This is particularly difficult because many adults are dealing with the same struggles as teens.
It’s Tough Being a Teen
The teenage years have come to be synonymous with change. Change often comes with stress. Even the best of change is stressful, as anyone who has gotten married or has had a child can attest. Teenagers in contemporary society face change in every direction: physically, mentally, emotionally, academically, vocationally, and socially. Amidst all these changes, teenagers must wrestle with the incredibly daunting question of identity. Who am I? What kind of person do I want to be? What kind of future do I want?
Generations ago, and still in many parts of the world today, some of these questions were answered for them; their answers were usually, “I will do what my father or mother did before me.” But in 21st-century America, teenagers are presented with an overwhelming number of options. They are now trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do in a rapidly changing and increasingly uncertain world.
What Can We Do?
We can help our teenagers by recognizing, normalizing, and strategizing.
1. Recognize
First, we can help them recognize the physical symptoms of anxiety they may be experiencing. These can include:
restlessness
tightness in the throat
difficulty sleeping
racing thoughts
difficulty concentrating
fixating on worst-case scenarios
We can also help them recognize what specific triggers they have for their anxiety, such as:
homework
large crowds
change in routines
2. Normalize
Secondly, we can normalize anxiety as a common experience, not just among teenagers but among people of all ages. This may mean sharing the things that have made you anxious and what has been helpful to you in dealing with your anxiety.
3. Strategize
Finally, we can help them strategize. While avoiding the things that make us anxious can sometimes help in the short term, it can end up harming us in the long run. When we avoid something that makes us anxious, this can actually reinforce that fear and cause us to be more anxious about it in the future. By adopting more positive coping strategies, we can help to relieve anxiety in the short term while also helping us live better lives in the long term. Some of these positive strategies include:
taking risks to be vulnerable
challenging false beliefs
sharing thoughts and emotions with people we trust
using grounding techniques such as breathing exercises to reduce anxiety
Know when to ask for help
The last step would be to consider reaching out to a mental health professional. Reassure them that it is normal to be struggling with anxiety and that it is okay to ask for help when you need it.
It can be a tall task to manage teen anxiety at school, but with the right skills and support, there is reason to hope.
References:
Fluent Research & The Jed Foundation. (2020, December 28). Family Wellbeing Study. The Jed Foundation. https://www.jedfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Family-Wellbeing_JED-report_12-28-20.pdf
Merikangas, K. R., He, J. P., Burstein, M., Swanson, S. A., Avenevoli, S., Cui, L., ... & Swendsen, J. (2010). Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in US adolescents: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication–Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(10), 980-989.
