Supporting Your Teen Through Anxiety: Practical Tips for Parents and Caregivers
Adolescence can be a tough time, and mental health struggles make things worse. Anxiety in teens has emotional symptoms ranging from excessive worry and irritability to physical symptoms like stomachaches or headaches. As a parent or caregiver, you can make a big difference in helping your teen manage their anxiety and build resilience in the face of stressful situations. Here are practical tips to help you support them.
Educate Yourself About Anxiety
The best way to support your teen right now is by first learning about anxiety: what its symptoms are, what causes it, coping mechanisms, and the best treatment options. This will help you not only recognize signs of anxiety in your teenager, but also equip you to respond compassionately when and if they come to you. If they’re amenable to it, try reading up on anxiety together. That way, you can both talk about the best way to handle stressful situations and how they’d like you to support them.
Create an Open and Supportive Environment
Teens often hesitate to share their struggles with anxiety when they’re afraid of how the adults around them will respond. Be the kind of person your teen feels safe coming to about their mental health issues. Use active listening. Give them your full attention, validate their emotions, and avoid dismissive or overly critical responses. Empathetic phrases like, “I understand this feels overwhelming for you,” can encourage them to open up.
Encourage Healthy Coping Mechanisms
When someone experiences anxiety, it’s hard to get out of thought spirals once they start. Help your teen develop healthier ways to manage their anxiety. Try to encourage:
Mindfulness and relaxation techniques like deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or meditation to help them calm their mind
Physical activity, including exercises like dancing, swimming, yoga, or hiking
Journaling about their feelings to process their emotions and identify patterns or triggers
Creative outlets like drawing, music, or crafting that can provide a therapeutic way to express their feelings and take their mind off anxiety
Be Mindful of How You Handle Stress
Your teen takes cues from how you respond to stressful situations and emotions like anger or shame. Model calm, constructive ways of managing anxiety in your own life. When possible, engage in healthy coping mechanisms together. You might even consider scheduling family time doing things like walking through the park or playing sports to head off anxiety together.
Maintain a Consistent Routine
A chaotic schedule and home life just makes anxiety worse. Make sure your teen feels stable so that they have a sense of control over their lives. Work with your teen to establish a daily routine that balances school, extracurricular activities, relaxation, and sleep. Consistent sleep and wake times are particularly important, since sleep deprivation can exacerbate anxiety symptoms.
Limit Screen Time and Social Media Use
Excessive screen time, particularly on social media, can contribute to anxiety. Help your teen set healthy boundaries by encouraging breaks from screens and promoting interactions in person. Discuss the impact of social media on mental health, body image, and attention span, and emphasize the importance of focusing on offline activities.
Build a Support Network
Encourage your teenager to connect with supportive friends, family members, or mentors. Feeling connected and seen by other people will help them feel less isolated. You might also seek out support groups for parents of teens with mental health struggles, so you can also find a community of helpers.
Know When to Seek Professional Help
If your teen’s anxiety doesn’t get better with interventions at home or prevents them from functioning in their daily life, it’s time to talk to someone about Teen Therapy. They may benefit from an approach like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps them reframe their thought processes and cope with difficult feelings. Contact me today so we can get started on a treatment plan that best fits your teenager’s needs.