Why Anxiety Might Increase During Adolescence, and What Parents Can Do

During adolescence the brain goes through a massive and magnificent redesign. This is to give children the neural firepower to make the transition from dependent little people to independent, productive, happy adults. It’s an exciting time, but it doesn’t always feel this way. Adolescence can be punctuated by entirely wonderful highs that come bundled in new discoveries and flourishing independence, as well as gut-wrenching lows.

Part of walking the path to adulthood means that our children might sometimes feel as though they are falling through the cracks of the smaller, safer, more predictable world they have known as children, and the bigger, more demanding, noisier world of adulthood. Until they have both feet firmly on adult ground – which will be sometime in their early 20s – the ground beneath them might feel shaky, or barely there some days.

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Bench Notice

A great article that really covers all the bases when dealing with teen anxiety. One piece I would like to add though. Anxiety is uncomfortable and at times can be mystery to many young people. All they know is that they have a knot in the middle of their stomach during certain situations. This can lend itself to the possibility of self medicating with opioids or other illegal drugs. Keep your antennas up for any behavior that could indicate substance abuse or addiction. These would include, behaviors such as irresponsibility, crankiness, disrespect, lying, moodiness, stealing, and a change in friendships or a disinterest in activities that were in the past something that was enjoyable for them; to name a few.  My recommendation: Pay Attention! Don’t fall into the trap of denial.