14: Anxiety in teenagers - also rules, and how to set ones your teens will follow.

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The anxiety epidemic:
In 2020 the UK charity Mental Health Foundation surveyed more than 2,000 children and found 50 per cent of teenagers aged 13-19 were experiencing anxiety they found hard to control.  

Suggested books:

·        The Anxiety Workbook for Teens: Activities to Help You Deal with Anxiety and Worry

·       Breaking free from Childhood Anxiety and OCD, Eli Lebowitz.

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/

Key points taken from UNWINDING ANXIETY: by Judson Brewer 

Mindfulness is a key tool:

'If you feel anxious it’s an uncomfortable feeling so you start worrying about it. Worrying is seductive because it makes you feel like you’re doing something to get to a solution. All it does is to distract you from the negative emotion. It temporarily numbs the difficult feelings and feels more rewarding to your brain than the original emotion.'

'If your brain learns that worrying provides temporary relief, then whenever you’re anxious your brain will trigger worry. It becomes a compulsive habit over which you have no control, but the worrying makes you feel more anxious.'

·       The first step to understanding your own anxiety is simply mapping your own habit loops/ What kind of situations trigger anxiety or other difficult feelings? 

·       Which behaviours has your brain learned to respond as a way to soothe or distract you?

·       What is the result of those behaviours?'

When you get into an anxiety loop use:

RAIN:

• Recognise difficult feelings.
• Accept them and allow them to be there.
• Investigate the sensations in your body and emotions bubbling up.
• Note what’s going on, and simply observe yourself out of curiosity.

Resources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/23/health/mental-health-crisis-teens.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/08/25/depression-and-anxiety-double-in-youth-compared-to-pre-pandemic/?sh=22e0bfb2139f
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/feeling-anxious-dont-worry-its-good-for-you-s70jvtdbx
https://childmind.org/article/signs-of-anxiety-in-teenagers/

RULES FROM:
https://www.verywellfamily.com/establishing-house-rules-for-teenagers-1094873

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I don't have medical training so please seek the advice of a specialist if you're not coping.

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