Helping Parents and Teachers Recognize and Address Anxiety in Teens: Back to School Transitions

Back to school can be a challenging time for teens and parents alike. The pace of summer allows individuals to slow things down and not be as preoccupied with school obligations, homework and extracurricular activities. Teens might be excited to see old friends but can also be worried about new teachers and new classes. The start of middle school and high school can often prove to be difficult transitional points within the education of a teenager. It is important to be able to recognize the signs of anxiety in adolescents and teens. Parents and teachers can also learn helpful strategies to ease this transition. Read this blog to learn more!

Understanding Signs of Anxiety in Adolescents and Teens

Anxiety in teens can emerge in a number of situations. Although anxiety is a natural response to stressful situations, it can also become overwhelming at times. At times, there may then be a need to look for anxiety treatment. Prior to starting treatment for anxiety disorders, you want to understand how much anxiety an individual is experiencing in terms of frequency, duration and intensity. 

There are many different symptoms that people often experience when they are anxious. These may include emotional symptoms, such as irritability, having trouble concentrating or making decisions. Physical symptoms of anxiety may also be present, such as difficulty sleeping, heart racing, and shaking. Let’s talk more about the symptoms of anxiety that you want to be on the lookout for so you can help your teen. By recognizing these signs and symptoms, you can talk to your teen and discuss ways in which they can cope and feel better. If you and your teen seek out treatment for anxiety, they will want to be able to describe their symptoms as well. 

Physical Symptoms of Anxiety in Adolescents

Anxiety can emerge in many different ways within our bodies. And we might not always notice that these are symptoms of anxiety. 

Here are some commonly experienced physical symptoms of anxiety that you can be on the lookout for in the days and months ahead:

1. Changes in Sleep Patterns: We know that anxiety can impact one’s sleep. This is true for adolescents, teens and adults. Sleep problems can emerge at different stages of sleep. Your teen might speak about difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or sleeping more hours than usual. Individuals might talk about their sleep being broken and that their mind is “racing” before they fall asleep if they wake up in the middle of the night.
   
2. Headaches and stomachaches: Teens might complain about having headaches or stomach aches and not always realize that they are triggered by stress and anxiety. You might want to suggest they start to monitor when these occur to see if there are any patterns.
   
3. Heart palpitations, sweating, trembling or shaking: Teens might talk about experiencing these types of physical sensations and not know what they are happening. Again, it can be great to ask them to notice when they occur to allow everyone to gain more insight into these physical sensations.
   
4. Changes in appetite and eating: Anxiety can also impact how much one eats. People might lose their appetite if they are feeling anxious or they might overeat. They might also turn to certain types of foods that they would not eat otherwise. Food can sometimes become comforting when one is experiencing anxiety. This is not a good coping strategy long term. 

No matter what physical sensations you are experiencing, you never want to assume that it is anxiety. It is essential to speak with a family doctor about what is happening with your teen. They will ask essential questions and may run tests to fully explain the symptoms being experienced. Should there be no underlying medical cause, then it is possible that these symptoms might be related to anxiety. Following this,  they might be able to suggest the best anxiety treatment for your teen.

Emotional and Behavioural Symptoms of Anxiety in Adolescents

Your teen will likely also speak about other symptoms that might be best explained as anxiety. Unhelpful thinking patterns might be experienced, as well as different emotional and behavioural symptoms. Here are some other ways in which symptoms of anxiety may present that you want to look out for:

1. Difficulty concentrating and focusing: Anxiety can make it difficult for an individual to focus and concentrate, even when they want to. This can be very impactful at school when your teen wants to focus and take in new information. You may find that they are struggling to keep up with homework, studying and assignments. Although there may be other reasons why focus and concentration are difficult, it could be one symptom (along with others) that is indicative of anxiety.
   
2. Irritability and changes in mood: Teens might experience mood changes that seem to be different than their typical behaviour. We do know that mood lability can happen in this developmental stage. Therefore, we are looking for behaviour changes that seem very different and impairing from those you might have witnessed before. Teens might be more angry than usual, experience intense irritability or have swift mood changes that are not easily explained.
   
3. Avoidance: Avoidant behaviour can be a hallmark of anxiety (as well as other mood changes as well). You want to notice whether your teen is pulling away from social connections (which they might have loved in the past), not wanting to attend school or exhibiting general signs of avoidance and withdrawal from things they have enjoyed in the past.

It is important to keep in mind that while the above symptoms are all very important, they are by no means exhaustive. In addition, anxiety is not defined by one particular symptom. It is a constellation of symptoms that often present together. In order for an individual to consider anxiety treatment, they might want to understand how much it is impacting their daily functioning in terms of work, school and socialization. 

Strategies for Supporting Teens with Anxiety

We want to now turn to some helpful strategies that can be used for anxiety in teens – for both teachers and parents. Although some strategies are very specific to the home or school environment, there is an overlap in terms of the importance of fostering open communication and creating environments that are non-judgemental to allow teens to seek help and understand what they are experiencing. Should your teen want to speak with someone further about their symptoms, it can be extremely helpful to find a mental health professional who can offer the best treatment for anxiety for your particular child. 

Here are strategies that might be helpful:

1. Fostering Open Dialogue: Talking about one’s anxiety can be difficult. People might experience shame or guilt that they are finding things difficult. Whether at home or in the classroom, you definitely want teens to be able to discuss what they are experiencing. Parents might find that using creative environments as a space to open up dialogue can be very helpful. Car rides can sometimes serve as a great environment for talking about difficult things. There might be other activities (i.e., walking, running, baking or another activity)you do with your teen that would lend themselves to bringing up different topics in an open way. Asking open-ended questions is often very helpful as it conveys that you are there to listen and not to judge. 

2. Speaking about Mental Health in the Classroom: The classroom can also lend itself to open dialogue in different ways. It can be beneficial for teachers to be explicit about being available for support during class time and, possibly, outside of class if ever needed. If there are resources in the school for mental health, it is essential to let teens know so they can speak to someone in private who has a good understanding of what they are experiencing. They might be able to recommend the best treatment for anxiety for that particular youth. In addition, schools can create a mental health curriculum that can be developed and built into the classroom. This would likely look different in different schools, depending on resources. But when mental health is openly discussed at school, teens often feel less shame and embarrassment to seek out the help they might need.

3. Two-Way Communication: Communication is also a key strategy between parents and the school. Although meetings do typically happen during parent-teacher interviews, teachers might want to contact parents before that time. As soon as something seems different or awry, it can be the perfect time to call home. If a teen might benefit from anxiety treatment, we definitely want to put that in place as soon as possible.

4. Be Mindful: Being mindful can be many different things! In this context, for both parents and teachers, we mean to be aware of the teen in your home or classroom. Has their behaviour changed in some critical way? Has this person previously worked hard, been engaged and focused and now they seem distracted and withdrawn? Signs of anxiety might be present through test performance, engagement in the classroom and ability to tackle challenging homework tasks at home. Should a teacher observe any significant changes they would likely want to approach the student as well as the parent. Again, we are trying to build an open dialogue which includes the teens themselves as well as their parents. Our observations might allow for a discussion that would not have been possible otherwise. 

5. Encourage Coping Skills at Home and at School: Coping strategies are always helpful. They are an important part of treatment for anxiety disorders but are also essential to have in our toolbox as part of general mental health and wellness. Although there are many different types of coping strategies some practical ones would include: deep breathing exercises, mindfulness strategies, self compassion exercises or journaling. Distress tolerance strategies can also be discussed within the school or as part of anxiety treatment. These strategies can then be used when someone needs to manage their anxiety within the moment. It may also be important for teens to know that they can leave a classroom for a quiet break should that be important for them. The more conversations there are and the more options teens have, the more easily they will find a tool that will help them. 

Where Can I Find Anxiety Treatment for my Teen?

Does FTPS offer anxiety treatment for teens near me? We do! We offer treatment for anxiety disorders with clinicians who have the correct training and experience in working with both youth and their parents. This can allow you to start the school year off well and ensure that any issues that emerge are addressed as soon as they appear. We offer assessments for anxiety as well as other mental health issues. 

We deliver online assessments and online therapy across Canada, throughout  Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and New Brunswick. We look forward to hearing from you so we can tell you about our treatment approaches and services. Contact us today!

References

Mental Health Foundation – What is Anxiety?
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/anxiety-disorders
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/mental-health/anxiety-and-sleep
https://www.healthline.com/health/physical-symptoms-of-anxiety#symptoms