Youth Mental Health: Anxiety is Real
Ask a group of teenagers how they're feeling and you will likely hear words like stressed, overwhelmed and anxious. In fact, anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in teenagers today.
While teenage angst has been around since the dawn of time, the experts say what’s happening these days is different and it’s a worrisome trend. Dr. John Piacentini with the UCLA CARES Program, a center dedicated to child anxiety, says, “It used to be about 20% of kids had a clinical anxiety disorder. Since the pandemic, we think it's increased to 35%, maybe even 40% — those are big numbers.”
Piacentini was one of the experts presenting at the recent AIM Youth Mental Health Symposium held at the Monterey Conference Center. He likens anxiety to nature’s car alarm – it keeps us aware of potential threats and we can act accordingly, but teenagers these days are receiving all kinds of unfiltered information that comes at them nonstop.
“Kids are being bombarded with these fear and danger signals from around the world. There is so much more to worry about, and they don't get a break anymore. Everything they see in their world is something dangerous or something bad is going to happen and it’s taking a toll on kids," Piacentini said.
Anxiety disorders come in a variety of flavors. For young children, separation anxiety can elicit real fear. Phobias are the fear of a specific thing or situation, such as dogs or going to the dentist. Many young people have social anxiety.
They are uncomfortable in social situations. Some may be afraid about the future, and still, others may experience panic attacks. Any of these disorders can be debilitating and experts say it’s important for parents, teachers and those who work with kids to realize – in most cases, these teenagers are not being overly dramatic.
Their feelings of fear are very real. Piacentini says, “Anxiety disorders and panic are real things. Even though there might not be acute danger, these kids are feeling like they are in a dangerous situation and something bad is going to happen. Their anxiety is real.”
Dr. Ramona Friedman, a clinical psychologist who also spoke at the AIM symposium, is an expert at treating anxiety disorders in children, and while there are challenges, she says there are effective treatments available.
It’s a big challenge right now. There are so many young people struggling and there is a limited number of trained professionals to treat anxiety disorders.
The most effective treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy, with a big emphasis on what’s called exposure response prevention and basically that means teaching the kids and their families the skills necessary to know what to do with that anxiety. And most of the time, that is stepping into their anxiety and practicing those important skills — not only with the youth but also their parents because anxious kids have anxious parents.”
Learning to deal with the fear and face it, with the help of a therapist, is at the heart of cognitive behavioral therapy. Friedman says it works.
“CBT is evidence-based. It’s been researched for decades now, and it’s really the gold standard," Friedman said.
There is still a limited number of therapists trained to deal with anxiety disorders, so Friedman says it’s more important than ever to try and deal with the anxiety before it reaches the level needing that kind of intervention. She says there are simple things parents and teachers can do to help. Listen to teenagers and acknowledge their feelings.
Talk about what is making them anxious. Allow them the space to be imperfect. She also says self-care, diet, exercise and downtime are all important aspects of mental health, but if the anxiety persists, get professional help. Teenagers with anxiety disorders are vulnerable to risky behavior, depression, isolation, poor academic performance, and even physical ailments.
KSBW 8 is highlighting the struggles youth deal with when it comes to their mental health and the communities organizations lending a helping hand.
If you, or someone you know, is struggling with mental health, we have compiled a list of Central Coast resources that can help.