Teenage Anxiety Treatment

Anxiety disorders come in many different forms. Most people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder are also more likely to struggle with a co-occurring mental health issue, such as a secondary anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, or substance use disorder. Learning to differentiate between some of the more common anxiety disorders can help you and your teen better understand how to tackle symptoms as they arise, and when to seek help. Common anxiety disorders include:

• Generalized anxiety disorder – generalized anxiety disorder is a condition characterized by feelings of worry and oppressive anxiety with no particular focus. In cases of generalized anxiety, a teen will seem on edge most of the time, as though unable to calm down or relax, except under very specific circumstances. Teens with generalized anxiety disorder tend to overthink things by default. Their anxiety can impact everyday life to a debilitating degree.
• Social phobia – social anxiety disorder or a social phobia is one of the more common types of phobias, or irrational fears. This is a condition characterized by irrational fear and worry in social contexts – such as avoiding all social gatherings because of a fear of embarrassment, worrying that people are talking about you behind your back at any given moment, and an intense fear or worry of being judged, even when there is no indication of judgment from others.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder – obsessive-compulsive disorder is a special type of anxiety disorder with its own complex set of rituals, characterized primarily by overwhelming intrusive thoughts and powerful feelings of discomfort, which are then “resolved” through ritualistic and seemingly unconnected compulsive behaviors, such as excessive cleaning, esoteric counting, repeating words and phrases, and more.
• Panic disorder – panic disorder is diagnosed in teens with recurring intense panic attacks. These are episodes characterized by physical symptoms of panic that often occur without a specific trigger or cause, seemingly out of the blue. Symptoms include hyperventilation, heart palpitations, struggling to breathe, chest pains, muscle weakness, shivers, cold sweating, and nausea. While most anxiety disorders share these physical symptoms, panic attacks are more acutely intense, and short-lived.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder – post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by different symptoms of anxiety triggered by a traumatic event. Most PTSD is long-lived, and some symptoms of PTSD can last for years. Not all teens who experience a traumatic event will develop PTSD, and trauma is subjective. But in cases where teens do develop PTSD, their symptoms are both physical and psychological.
• Separation anxiety disorder – although separation anxiety is more often diagnosed in young children, teens can also struggle with separation anxiety. In cases of separation anxiety, a teen’s primary fear centers around the absence of their parents – whether it’s a fear of being left alone, a fear that their parents won’t come back, or a fear that their parents might get hurt.
• Other phobias–while social phobia is arguably one of the most common phobias, there are well over a hundred recognized and diagnosed forms of phobia. These can range from a fear of spiders or great heights to rarer fears, such as a fear of eggs.

As always, a formal diagnosis is the only way to be sure about your teen’s symptoms. Be sure to seek the advice of a trained professional through a comprehensive one-on-one psychological assessment before tackling your teen’s mental health together.