Newstricky| Everyone has experienced feelings of anxiety, and everyone can agree that this is not a pleasant feeling. It’s uncomfortable, and all you want to do is make that discomfort stop. A lot of things can make you feel anxious, such as public speaking, having to have a difficult conversation with somebody, financial pressures, or even facing a dreaded working environment each morning if you dislike your job or are having issues with a colleague. While anxiety is not an uncommon emotion, for those who don’t have an anxiety disorder, these feelings will not be something that you face regularly and can perhaps be resolved when you change your situation or the circumstances that are causing your anxiety are over.
This isn’t the case for those with anxiety disorder, and everyday life can be incredibly challenging for them. Anyone can have an anxiety disorder, but for teenagers who are still figuring out who they are and growing from their adolescent experiences, this can be even more difficult. If you have a teenager at home who is suffering from an anxiety disorder, here are some tips to help you give them the support that they need.
Table of Contents
Seek Professional Help and Guidance
It is worth speaking to a doctor or mental health specialist to see what treatment options are available for your teenager. They will likely benefit from talking therapies and/or medication to help manage their anxiety disorder, and speaking to professionals will help you to better understand these options and find one that is right for them. If they are having a particularly difficult time with their anxiety, consider reaching out to places like igniteteentreatment.com that specializes in a range of mental health issues with adolescents including anxiety disorders. They will be able to provide both you and your teenager with the right support through this difficult period and beyond. It’s also important to make sure that your teenager is part of the discussion when it comes to choosing this kind of support, as it needs to be something that they are comfortable with as well.
You may also like: Health Tips For Seniors
Do Your Research
It can be very hard to understand these issues if they are not something that you have experienced yourself or if you haven’t known anyone with this kind of disorder before. However, understanding and compassion are key to supporting your teenager with their anxiety disorder, so the more research you do on this condition, the better. While you might not be able to fully understand how your teenager might be feeling, you can certainly get a better idea of what they could be experiencing through making this effort to learn.
Be Patient
When you’re trying to support someone with any kind of mental health issue, it can sometimes take a toll on you as well. It’s easy to find yourself frustrated, particularly if you are struggling to understand their emotions, reasoning, or actions. However, it is important to try your best to be patient. While you need to set boundaries for your needs and well-being in this situation, remember that this isn’t something that they are doing on purpose and that they are trying their best.
Shift the Focus from Their Disorder
While it is essential to keep the lines of communication open and to let your teenager know that you’re there for them no matter what, don’t keep mentioning their anxiety disorder or trying to talk to them about it when they aren’t ready or willing to discuss it. They likely already feel under the microscope or worry about what others might think about it, and adding more focus to this will not help to ease this. Instead, try to take their mind off things and engage in conversations about school, their hobbies, if they have read an interesting book or seen a movie that they like. Small talk like this can serve as a positive distraction and help them to feel as though they are being treated the same as everyone else.
Be Mindful That You’re Not Enabling Their Disorder
You shouldn’t put pressure on your teenagers to engage in activities that they do feel anxious about, but you should also be mindful that you’re not enabling their anxiety disorder by adapting your lifestyle or routine too much to make them feel more comfortable. Also, writing things like notes to get them out of certain classes or other activities all of the time due to their anxiety might not be as beneficial as it sounds, either. Of course, this will depend on the circumstances and how severe their disorder is, but avoiding these things too much can result in making their anxiety even worse.
Anxiety is unpleasant for everyone, but it’s even more difficult for those who suffer from an anxiety disorder. If your teenager is dealing with this issue, consider the tips above and see how they can help you support them better.
