Sources and Causes of Anxiety in Teens

We all experience feelings of anxiety every so often. When we are confronted by an unfamiliar situation, or when we face something that feels overwhelming or threatening, our bodies react instinctively by activating our fight or flight response. The things that activate this response differ from person to person, and so what makes you anxious might be a breezy Tuesday morning for someone else, and the opposite is true.

Just like everyone else, teens also get anxious. The things teens generally get anxious about have some similarities with what everyone else gets anxious over, but teens experience some anxieties that are unique to their stage of life. If you are a teen, or if you are the parent/caregiver of a teen, being aware of how anxiety works and what can cause anxiety can help you in addressing it.

What anxiety feels like

Anxiety is a physiological response to a stimulus that your body reads as threatening in one respect or another. That stimulus might be standing in class and giving a presentation, or it might be talking to someone of the opposite sex, or it might be leaving your room or house.

Whatever it may be, your body responds to it by releasing neurochemicals such as epinephrine/norepinephrine which is responsible for adrenaline and the energy that courses through you when you’re anxious, as well as for the rapid heartbeat and sweating that often accompanies anxiety.

There are different types of anxiety, and when anxiety is persistent and disruptive of everyday life it is called an anxiety disorder. Some of these types of anxiety include generalized anxiety, which is when you are worried about non-specific things such as the future and about bad things happening, or phobias, which is when you have irrational and extreme fears about specific things such as leaving the house.

Other forms of anxiety include social anxiety, which is when a person is afraid of situations that include people and interpersonal interactions, like at school or a party, and panic disorder, where one has sudden, unexpected, and intense fear.

Anxiety can feel different for different people. Some feel a deep sense of dread, while others may feel jittery and unable to concentrate. Being anxious can feel like the world is about to swallow you up, or it can feel like you are shrinking while everything else around you grows bigger and gets put into sharper focus. Anxiety can range from feeling mildly uncomfortable all the way to completely overwhelming and paralyzing.

Some causes of anxiety in teens

Anxiety can come from different places, and it can have a genetic component to it, as well as an environmental one. So, if you have close relatives who have anxiety, there is a greater likelihood that you’ll also have it. Sometimes, certain medications and traumatic experiences can lead to anxiety.

Apart from these causes of anxiety, the teen years are a unique time in which certain experiences and realities can lead to anxiety. Not only is one going through a wide variety of physiological and social changes but there are increasing peer pressures that can be quite challenging.

Some of the significant causes and sources of anxiety in teens include:

High expectations to succeed

The pressure to achieve the expectations that they feel they need to meet can be a huge pressure for teens. This could be doing well at school, being in the right clubs to advance college prospects, earning scholarships, or being on certain teams.

Physiological changes

The teen years are usually the time when hormonal changes affect one’s body and moods drastically.

Sleep deprivation

If one is stressed and doesn’t have room to decompress, that can lead to sleep deprivation, which in turn can lead to anxiety.

Relationships

While a teen may begin to look like an adult, their brains are not yet fully developed, as that only happens in the early to mid-twenties. They may desire greater freedom without necessarily understanding the nature of responsibility, and this can lead to frustration between parents and teens as they negotiate these realities.

Other relationships that can cause anxiety include those with peers, where a teen can feel pressure to fit in and feel validated. Negative experiences such as bullying can also cause anxiety.

Drug and alcohol use

The teen years are often marked by exploration and experimentation. If a teen uses drugs and alcohol, that use can itself increase anxiety.

Technology and social media

Exposure to social media can cause body image issues, and some teens are exposed to cyberbullying; these can all contribute to anxiety.

Poor nutrition

Eating foods that are fatty or high in sugar can affect a person’s emotional state, including whether they are more susceptible to anxiety.

Depression

Depression and anxiety are conditions that often overlap.

Instability

Whether caused by moving frequently, changing schools often, or being exposed to traumatic experiences such as witnessing domestic violence or parental discord, diminished mental health can contribute to developing anxiety.

Signs of anxiety in teens

Some of the signs of anxiety that you can look out for include:

• Avoidance, including avoiding activities, school, or social interactions.
• Withdrawing and isolating from friends and family
• Poor concentration and inability to complete tasks to start or finish school assignments
• Mood swings. This includes irritability, agitation, tension, or restlessness.
• Worrying about unlikely eventualities, having recurring fears and negative thoughts.
• Sleep troubles. Including struggles falling and staying asleep, as well as nightmares.
• Chronic physical complaints. These include headaches, fatigue, or digestive issues.
• Being sensitive to criticism, and feeling self-conscious
• Changed eating habits. This includes eating too much or too little.
• This may manifest as repeatedly seeking reassurance
• Poor performance. This can be evidenced by having lower grades or other difficulties in school
• Risky behaviors such as substance use or unprotected sex.

Finding help and treatment for teen anxiety

We all feel anxious in our lives. There is, however, a difference between everyday anxiety that is a mild inconvenience, and when anxiety becomes an obstacle to enjoying one’s life. Teens can suffer from anxiety that prevents them from enjoying school, their relationships with peers, or their parents. It’s important to seek appropriate help to determine if your teen has anxiety or an anxiety disorder.

Receiving an appropriate diagnosis is a great step forward, as anxiety isn’t something that a person just grows out of. Rather, anxiety can be relieved through various home remedies as well as treatments provided by mental health professionals such as Christian counselors. Part of what you can do as a parent is to keep an eye out for any signs that point to anxiety, and to provide them with room to speak to you if they need help.

Additionally, as a parent/caregiver, you can aid in your teen’s self-care routines, such as eating healthy food, getting good sleep, and regular exercise. The help of a professional counselor can be invaluable for a teen dealing with anxiety. Your teen’s counselor can help them understand their anxiety, including triggers and what can make it worse.

A Christian counselor can help your teen to understand their thoughts and behaviors better. Often, unfiltered and unhelpful thoughts and behaviors can make anxiety worse. Through Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), your teen’s counselor can help them discern unhealthy thoughts and behaviors that fuel anxiety and replace these with healthy ones. These unhealthy thoughts need to be challenged and replaced with more realistic and truthful ones.

Your teen’s counselor can help them work through different scenarios, figuring out how best to respond in various situations that cause them anxiety, and to come up with viable plans for what to do. The plan will be tailored specifically for your child, including knowing where they can go at school or home if they start feeling anxious, and the techniques they can use to calm themselves down.

If there is a need, a doctor can also prescribe anxiety medications such as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), which, when used in combination with talk therapy for about 3 months, can help a teen significantly in dealing with the symptoms of their anxiety. If you have a teen in your life who may be struggling with anxiety, help them reach out to a mental health professional such as a Christian counselor.