By: Jayita
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is that feeling you get before taking an exam or waiting for your results to come out just hoping you passed. The feeling of dread, fear, or uneasiness causes us to feel restless and tense.
Everybody feels anxious. This anxiety can help us stay focused or motivated and give us that boost of energy. However, if it gets out of hand and it feels like the anxiety is controlling you and not the other way around is when one develops an anxiety disorder.
Ever since the COVID pandemic, anxiety has been on the rise among teenagers along with depression and body dysmorphia. 32% of teenagers are estimated to have an anxiety disorder.
Why do we develop anxiety?
“Perfect”
The most obvious reasons for rising anxiety are school and social media. Today’s youth feel the pressure the previous generation did not. The constant pressure of being the best and perfect and the need to be the top at everything causes teenagers to get overwhelmed or burn out, which in turn leads to anxiety and stress.
“Perception”
School and home become the primary environments for development, influencing how we think about ourselves and how we believe others perceive us. During adolescence, our hormones fluctuate, and since our brains are still developing, we become increasingly sensitive to others' opinions. (Bubrick, 2022), a senior psychologist, notes that “this is part of the adolescent process, but some kids experience this on steroids,” (Bubrick, 2022; Miller C, 2022) which can result in social anxiety.
“Puberty”
Puberty, as we all know, is the time when the body and mind go through emotional and physical changes for reproductive maturity. During this whole process, the hormones of our bodies also vary which causes us to feel emotions we don’t understand or make sense of. Along with this, we become uncomfortable in our skin and try to change or ‘fit in’ to make our peers like us. These confining thoughts, again, lead to anxiety. With social media at our fingertips, we often
compare ourselves to unrealistic expectations which creates a whole mindset of not being good enough. These negative thoughts are the breeding ground for anxiety.
Conclusion
It is almost impossible to avoid anxiety growing up. We all will feel it at one time or another. It's both part of nature and nurture. But for now, the only thing we can do is cope with it and get through the hard times unless it gets really serious- then please see a professional.
References
Katzenstein J., (2021, April 12), Anxiety and Stress in Teens,
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/anxiety-disorders/anxiety-and stress-in-teens#:~:text=What%20times%20are%20likely%20to,there%20are%20also%20many %20stressors.
MedlinePlus, Bethesda, MD National Library of Medicine (US)(updated 2023 Oct17), Anxiety https://medlineplus.gov/anxiety.html
Abraham M., (2020 Oct 10), How to Survive Anxiety and Puberty,
McCarthy C. (2019 Nov 20), Anxiety in Teens is Rising: What is going on? https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/emotional-problems/Pages/Anx iety-Disorders.aspx
Miller C., (2022), How Anxiety Affects Teenagers,
Comments