Parenting a Teen with Anxiety? Helping Them Build Healthy Responses
The teenage years are a whole monster of their own. It’s an emotional time; they’re entering adolescence, undergoing physical changes, and preparing to be adults before they know it. Anxiety is extremely common among teenagers and may require a different level of TLC.
This anxiety can look like perfectionism, stress about academic performance, fear about participation in sports, or social anxiety worrying about how others view them. They may also be anxious about their body and how they look/dress/act.
New experiences lead to new stressors. It can be more difficult for them to manage, however, because they are still learning how to identify and process these newfound feelings and emotions. As a parent, your guidance can be more important than ever. Here’s how you can help them respond healthily.
Encouraging Physical Activity
Exercise can be good for anyone of any age to work out some of their anxiety. If your teen is struggling, encourage some form of physical activity. Whether it be something like yoga to ease their mind and calm their system or something more intense like a gym routine, the activity will never be harmful to them.
If your teen is involved in school sports and that is the source of anxiety, try shifting the movement focus to going for a walk. Getting some fresh air is healing on its own. Plus, you can go with them and be a sounding board or support for them just by spending time together.
Encouraging A Healthy Sleep Routine
During the teen years, eight to ten hours of sleep is recommended. With school and extracurricular activities, though, it can often be slighted. They’re getting up earlier and going to bed later. Life starts to get in the way of sleep schedules. Plus, you as a parent may not be monitoring it as closely since they are becoming more independent.
Encourage good sleep hygiene practices that they can carry with them into their adult years. Life stress doesn’t get any less as we age. Factors like the number of hours and quality of sleep are obvious but also think about things like the environment they are sleeping in, limiting screen time, and incorporating relaxation habits in their bedtime routine.
Avoiding Unnecessary Stress
Procrastination is a habit that begins in these years. It is easy to brush tasks off until the last minute, especially when their parents are “nagging” them to do something. Promoting a schedule to follow can reduce stress and anxiety once implemented into a habit. Rather than just comment on getting something done timely or keeping to a schedule, sit with them and discuss how it can impact their anxiety.
Incorporating Mindfulness
Mental and behavioral health is not often front and center during teen schooling years. The pressure of tests, sports competitions, academic club performance, etc., can really take a toll. You aren’t always going to be there to coach them through those things, and they may not know how to help themselves in real-time. Work with them on exploring breathing exercises or meditation practices that can be used in the moment. They’re also probably pretty tech-savvy, so find apps that they like to help out.
Encouraging Open Discussion
Most importantly, help them learn how to talk about their feelings. It isn’t always a known and practiced behavior, so encourage them to be open about their feelings even if they can’t quite put it into the clearest of terms. Validate their feelings and provide positive self-talk so they will know it is ok to open up and express themselves. Bottling up feelings over time can lead to more significant problems in the future. Rather than push it under the rug or bury it deep, let it out.
Steering them towards professional help is always an option as well. Contact us if you need more assistance in teen counseling.