Anxiety In Kids and Teens Part 1
Anxiety is the body's natural response to stress, but when does it become a real problem for kids and teens? In this podcast, Dr. Terri Daniels and I discuss this topic. Watch Part 2 here.
[NOTE: We are not doctors, psychologists, or psychiatrists. We are not giving medical advice. This podcast is for informational purposes and is based on personal experience. Please consult a medical professional for medical advice regarding anxiety.]
Anxiety Is Normal
[2:08] It is normal to have some anxiety. Anxiety is the body’s natural response to stress and life will be stressful. However, our culture tells us that we must feel happy all the time and that is not realistic. It sets people up, especially kids and teens, to get very anxious when life is not going wonderfully all of the time.
We can think back to our childhood and teen years and see that anxiety was a part of growing up and a part of learning. We had anxiety when we had to speak in front of the class. We had anxiety when we asked someone to dance. We felt pressure to fit in and be liked. All of those things are normal for kids and teens to experience.
Part of overcoming anxiety is putting ourselves out there into the world and then learning from the outcome. Good or bad the outcome helps kids and teens to grow and become stronger; better prepared for rejection and appreciative of reward. Some anxiety needs to be normalized for our kids and teens so they can function in a very stressful world.
Deal With It
[6:00] Part of kids and teens learning to deal with anxiety is to deal with anxiety. It means experiencing events in life that cause anxiety, getting through the event, and then realizing they made it through. This process will help our kids and teens be able to face the much tougher pressures that come in adulthood.
Parents, we can still be supportive to our kids if or when they need to seek counseling. Counseling and therapy can be invaluable ways for kids and teens to deal with the anxiety they have.
Not An Instagram Life
[7:45] We really do our kids and teens a disservice when we don’t expect them to do hard things or experience hard things. Social media makes life look perfect all the time, but we know life isn’t really like that. Things will not always go the way our kids and teens want it to go and we need to prepare them for that.
Life will not always feel comfortable. Of course, we don’t like that feeling, so we usually try to alleviate any discomfort. Realistically, we cannot rid ourselves of all discomfort, so our kids and teens shouldn’t expect that either.
Kids and teens are being conditioned to think that something is wrong with them whenever they feel anxiety. We can support our kids and teens by helping them to know they are not alone in feeling anxiety. Whether they need to seek professional help or not, just knowing they are not alone will help kids and teens dealing with anxiety.
Sources of Anxiety In Kids and Teens
[14:30] There are many external and internal factors that contribute to anxiety. Peer pressure, identity, and academics are just a few. Kids and teens want to fit in with their peers. They don’t want to stand out from the crowd. This plays out even more on social media.
Smartphones and social media have given our kids and teens 24/7 access to more than we had growing up. The world also has more access to our kids. There are a lot of opportunities for comparison and bullying to take place. Kids and teens never have a break from the anxiety of feeling like they need to fit in.
Parents, we need to get involved in our kids’ lives. Know what they are doing on their cell phones and on social media. Keep cell phone and social media use to communal spaces in the home, so we can see what they are doing. Keep cell phones out of the bedroom at night, so kids and teens aren’t on them all night long.
There is so much more for our kids to deal with than we had growing up. But our kids can learn to deal with some anxiety. Being supportive of our kids and teens and keeping smartphone and social media use to a minimum will help them to better handle anxiety when it comes into their life. And it will.
