The post Social Anxiety In Teens first appeared on Help Your Teens.

Skipping classes due to anxiety can be looked at as a valid reason due to the disturbing and uncomforting thoughts and feelings that are associated with it.

Anxiety can often stop students from going to school and engaging with other students and school-related activities.

Some families tend to understand the discomfort that is associated with anxiety whereas some tend to blame the student for their lack of seriousness and responsibility.

Anxiety can often stop students from going to school and engaging with other students and school-related activities. Some families tend to understand the discomfort that is associated with anxiety whereas some tend to blame the student for their lack of seriousness and responsibility. School refusal and avoidance has become a concern for many young people.

Some physical symptoms of skipping class due to anxiety displayed by students are:

• Dizziness, headaches, nausea
• Vomiting, diarrhea
• Shaking or trembling
• Increased heart rate
• Chest pains
• Stomach pains

 Behavioral symptoms include:

• Explosive temperament
• Crying, sadness
• Anger or rage outbursts
• Threats to hurt themselves.

What are the causes of skipping classes due to anxiety?

Family environment: Stressful events or a dysfunctional family can cause teens to feel compelled to stay home. A teenager may refuse to leave a parent who is ill or who has a substance abuse problem.

Demanding school environment:  It is not uncommon for middle and high school students to become school refusers because they are afraid of violence either at school or on the way to school, afraid of failing academically, or have been repeatedly bullied or humiliated.

What are the ways to deal with school anxiety?

It is important for the students to deal with anxiety in an effective manner to avoid skipping school consistently.

Some techniques that one can adopt to manage this anxiety and get back to normal are:

-Talk about your feelings: The first and the most effective way is to convey how you are feeling to your family and friends and seek help when offered by them. This is only possible by shadowing the thoughts of being labelled as weak upon sharing one’s feelings.

Read – Tips on How to Talk to Your Teen.

-Stay away from the identifiable triggers: It is safe to say that anxiety is contagious in nature and more environmental and situation-driven, keeping distance from identifiable triggers can help in anxiety that results in skipping classes.

-Take a break: It’s important to understand that spending most of your time at school and meeting academic demands might disrupt an individual’s life balance. It’s necessary to take some time off from school or college work and indulge in pleasurable activities to restore a balance between classes and personal life.

Concentrate on the positives: Try to list out and concentrate on the positives of school or college and personal life.

Also read:

My Teen Refuses to Go To School

5 Benefits of Boarding Schools for Teens

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If your teen is struggling with school refusal, phobia, anxiety or any mental health issues that you have exhausted your local resources with trying to find help, contact us today to find out more about the benefits of residential treatment for teen help in getting your child back on the right track.

The post Teens Skipping Class Because of Anxiety first appeared on Help Your Teens.

By Dr. John Duffy

Parenting is more difficult and complicated than it has ever been. Our kids today are psychologically and emotionally burdened by social media, unreasonable academic and social stressors, and an unprecedented stream of information.

They are exposed to the harshest elements of the world much too soon. The upside is that they have this thoughtful, compassionate worldview and sense of justice that we may have lacked. The downside is that our kids are in an undue degree of psychic pain. They suffer far more anxiety, depression, attention issues, and suicidal ideation than any generation preceding them.

More than ever, our kids need us to help them make sense of, and integrate, all they take in, starting at a very early age. To do that, we must know and truly understand their world.

This book is a complete guide to all of the issues that your child, teen and young adult will face.

So when your kid is overwhelmed (and your kid is going to feel overwhelmed), when you kid is exposed to too much (and your kid will be exposed to too much), she will know: I have mom and/or dad, and they are my constant, they are my solid. I can go to them and they are going to hear me out, without judgment. I know that. I know that I can talk to them and they are going to be there for me unequivocally. In their complicated world, with all of this stimuli, with all of this identity traffic, kids need some compass. They need you to be that compass.

Inside Parenting Inside the New Teen In the Age of Anxiety:

Learn about the “New Teen” and how to adjust your parenting approach. Kids are growing up with nearly unlimited access to social media and the internet, and unprecedented academic, social, and familial stressors. Starting as early as eight years old, children are exposed to information, thought, and emotion that they are developmentally unprepared to process. As a result, saving the typical “teen parenting” strategies for thirteen-year-olds is now years too late.

Urgent advice for parents of teens. Dr. John Duffy’s parenting book is a new and necessary guide that addresses this hidden phenomenon of the changing teenage brain. Dr. Duffy, a nationally recognized expert in parenting for nearly twenty-five years, offers this book as a guide for parents raising children who are growing up quickly and dealing with unresolved adolescent issues that can lead to anxiety and depression.

Unprecedented psychological suffering among our young and why it is occurring. A shift has taken place in how and when children develop. Because of the exposure they face, kids are emotionally overwhelmed at a young age, often continuing to search for a sense of self well into their twenties. Paradoxically, Dr. Duffy recognizes the good that comes with these challenges, such as the sense of justice instilled in teenagers starting at a young age.

Readers of this book will:

• Sort through the overwhelming circumstances of today’s teens and better understand the changing landscape of adolescence
• Come away with a revised, conscious parenting plan more suited to addressing the current needs of the New Teen
• Discover the joy in parenting again by reclaiming the role of your teen’s ally, guide, and consultant

Order today on Amazon.

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If you are struggling with your teenager’s behavior (anxiety and stress) and have exhausted your local resources, learn more about how residential treatment can help your troubled teen through emotional growth. Contact us today for a free consultation.

The post Parenting The New Teen In The Age Of Anxiety first appeared on Help Your Teens.

It’s no secret, 2020 has been tough to get through. The pressures that the ongoing pandemic have placed on all of us have been challenging, especially for students who have had to adapt to online learning overnight.

If you’re a student in this strange time, it can be extremely difficult to find the motivation to get up and tune in to class while the world is in a moment of crisis.

While the pandemic continues, it’s important to prioritize your mental health in tandem with your daily tasks. And even when school does return to an in-person setting, you want to maintain a robust practice of keeping your psychological and emotional wellbeing in check.

So how can you stay on top of your anxiety when studies are too demanding or overwhelming? We’ve got some tips to help you get through this difficult time with a list of activities and practices to check in with yourself.

Here’s some ways students can mitigate the effects of anxiety:

1. Normalize Checking in with Yourself

A lot of us who suffer from anxiety don’t know to recognize the telltale signs before it’s too late. The only time you seem to realize you’re in an anxious situation is when you’re in a state of panic about sending in an assignment just seconds before it’s due. Luckily, you can plan ahead to check in with yourself.

Find a regular time to formally ask yourself how you’re feeling. It could be every Friday, or it could be every time you have to study for a test. Depending on how frequently you experience the effects of anxiety, you may need to set a soothing alarm to check in with yourself every hour. That’s completely okay.

When checking in with yourself, it’s also helpful to make a list of all the symptoms you experience when you feel anxiety. Is it a headache? Stomach cramps? A fast heart rate? Whatever you feel that makes you uncomfortable or prevents you from thinking clearly, jot down the symptoms so you can recognize them early on. When you start to feel anxiety coming on and have a heightened awareness of what’s to come, you can excuse yourself from the situation until you’ve had a chance to think things through.

Let’s say you need to communicate with a teacher about your last essay grade. You did poorly and you want to know how to get better, but this particular instructor can be a bit intimidating. Having a list of your symptoms readily available can help you observe them, alerting you to take a step back. If you know one of your symptoms is a fast heart rate, you can slow it down with some deep breathing or by drinking a tall glass of water. Once you are more in control of your emotions, you can take care you’re your tasks while feeling comfortable.

2. Phone a Friend

One of the hardest hitting aspects of quarantine is that you don’t have your friends around to talk with, hang out, or vent about what’s going on in your life. Though we’re all quarantining separately, you’re not alone in your struggle to seek out a sense of peace and calm in your life.

Anxiety has the ability to trap you in your own mind and body when you’re in a downward spiral. When you notice that you’re getting caught in your head, it can help contact a friend for guidance and to get you out of your head.

Enjoying the company of a companion will get you to think externally, helping your brain produce endorphins to relieve pain and stress and boost your happiness. After speaking to a friend or a loved one, you’ll find that you feel lighter and can tackle your work with more energy and resilience.

When it comes to receiving specific help on school issues though, developing a personal relationship with mentors can also be helpful. While teachers and your parents might be preoccupied with their own COVID-related stressors, you may want to turn to other students in your school who have already taken the classes you’ve taken or experts who can help you with what you’re going through.

Studies have shown that the benefits of tutoring extend well beyond achieving good grades! Tutors can help you with time management, relating your studies to your personal interests, and take the pressure off of speaking with a teacher or professor. Mentors can also provide you with personalized study strategies as well as good coping skills. 

3. Live in the Moment

Anxiety is often caused by worrying about a future situation. Whether it’s the outcome of a job interview or the results of an exam, your mind is caught up in a situation that hasn’t really happened yet, and it can take away from your productivity in the moment.

When teens get trapped by the worst-case scenario, it can lead to panicked decision-making and further their anxiety about doing a good job on their assignment. This is why it’s important to plan ahead for situations that can put you in an anxious state of mind, so you be more present and level-headed.

One way to live in the moment and stay focused on the present is, ironically, by planning ahead. You can configure your schedule to anticipate anxiety-inducing activities that will affect your well-being and your work. Simply extend the amount of time a given activity will take to include a moment of calm before and after the event.

If you have a Zoom call scheduled at 3:00, add to your agenda that you’ll need to start doing breathing exercises at 2:30 and then again at 4:00. When you do this, you’re planning on smoothing out your emotions and cushioning stressful events. This can prevent you from spiraling out unexpectedly by giving your body the physical preparation to better handle stress.

Read: 5 Benefits of Boarding Schools for Troubled Teens.

Read: Goals of Behavior Modification Programs for Teens.

Read: Why Residential Therapy Works.

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Post is contributed by a guest writer.

If your teen is struggling with stress, anxiety and even causing depression — if you’ve exhausted your local resources, contact us to learn more about how teen help programs might be able to help.

The post Smart Teens Stuck from Anxiety first appeared on Help Your Teens.

Today teenager’s not only have the stress of schoolwork and peer pressure, they are concerned about their social media presence. If you doubt this is an issue, you are fooling yourself.  Statistics have proven that teens rely on their virtual reality for many feelings of acceptance. This is why it is critical for parents to continue to have offline discussions about online reality.

FOMO (fear of missing out) is very real for these kids today. Even some adults have this fear. You have to look far and wide to walk down the street to find someone without their cell phone in their hand. What are some of the warnings signs that your teen could be struggling with depression or anxiety?

• Apathy
• Headaches, stomachaches, low back pain, or fatigue
• Difficulty making decisions
• Excessive or inappropriate guilt
• Risky behavior
• Rebellious behavior, defiance (more than normal)
• Sadness, anxiety, or a feeling of hopelessness
• Staying awake at night and sleeping during the day
• Sudden drop in grades (underachieving)
• Use of alcohol or drugs and promiscuous sexual activity
• Withdrawn from friends and family
• Loss of interest in their favorite hobbies or activities

Teen Anxiety

The lesser known relative of depression, anxiety, afflicts people of all ages and can be especially detrimental for teenagers. It is completely normal and even common for individuals to experience anxiety, particularly during stressful periods, such as before a test or important date (think Prom).

Anxiety disorders are not fatal; however, they can severely interfere with an individual’s ability to function normally on a daily basis. The intense feelings of fear and worry often lead to a lack of sleep as it makes it very difficult for people to fall asleep. Those with anxiety disorders also commonly suffer from physical manifestations of the anxiety.

The anxiety can cause headaches, stomach aches, and even vomiting. In addition stress can cause individuals to lose their appetite or have trouble eating. One of the more difficult aspects for students to deal with is difficulty concentrating.

In addition to medication, treatments for anxiety disorders include cognitive-behavioral therapy, other types of talk therapy, and relaxation and biofeedback to control muscle tension. Talk therapy can be the most effective treatment for teenagers, as they discuss their feelings and issues with a mental health professional.

Many teens find it incredibly helpful to simply talk about the stress and anxiety that they feel. Additionally, in a specific kind of talk therapy called cognitive-behavioral therapy teens actively “unlearn” some of their fear. This treatment teaches individuals a new way to approach fear and anxiety and how to deal with the feelings that they experience.

Teen depression and anxiety is treatable. It’s imperative you seek help for your child. As many parents know, sometimes your teenager can be stubborn and refuse to get help. It’s a parent’s responsibility to do what is best for them.

Finding a therapist that specializes with adolescents and connects with your son or daughter may take a few tries. Sometimes outpatient therapy works and typically finding a good peer support group is always beneficial.

If you come to a point where you have exhausted all of your local resources and you find your teen is still hitting rock bottom in darkness, you may want to consider residential therapy. This gives them a second opportunity at a bright future. It doesn’t say you or they are failures – opens up many doors for them.

Also read:

Goals of Boarding Schools

5 Benefits of Boarding Schools for Troubled Teens

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If your teen is struggling with anxiety, depression or a mental health concern and local therapy isn’t helping, learn more about how residential treatment can benefit them. Contact us for more information.

Sources: WedMD.com

The post Teen Depression, Anxiety and Sadness first appeared on Help Your Teens.