How to help your teenager with anxiety - Part 1

Does your teenager ever get anxious before a big test?

Or how about the week or two leading up to the start of a new school year … are they a little on edge?  Are they not their usual selves?   This was certainly the case for my youngest daughter.

What about the morning of a big presentation in one of their classes?   Do they refuse to eat breakfast and complain about an upset stomach?

How about social situations?   Does your teenager get really uncomfortable or avoid them?

Truth be told we all experience anxiety at some level.  For me back when I was in school one of my biggest fears was being called on in class or a group discussion.  I should qualify this.    I was good with being called on to answer a question with a specific answer.  For example: What is the capital of Indiana ?   It was the questions that required me to share my thoughts or opinion that freaked me out.   Questions like.   What did you think the author was trying to say in this poem?  I would feel exposed or vulnerable in these moments. 

But now I stand up in front of people and share my ideas and thoughts all of the time.  Now I am not going to lie.   There are still some nerves before I start a talk.   But over the years I have learned strategies for overcoming this fear and more importantly I have developed a new mindset that prevents the anxiety from ever starting in the first place.

This is the stuff I wish someone would have shared with me when I was a teenager. 

This is part 1 of a 7 part series - How  to help your teenager get beyond their anxiety.

Over the next 7 posts we will start by exploring the different types of anxiety and what causes them. Next, we'll talk about strategies that can help you and your teenager get past anxiety in the moment… when you are feeling it.  Then we will wrap up this series with some strategies for preventing anxiety so that you and your teenager can be their absolute best.

Your family enrichment coach,

Jim White