The panic has set in, your breathing gets faster and now you are completely overwhelmed. Sound familiar? Many teens these days are facing severe stress, anxiety and feelings of drowning in their emotions. Some have even complained of sweaty palms, heart racing, and breathlessness. These are forms of panic attacks and effecting more and more every day as the competition of keeping up socially, academically, and athletically increases with each year. Many teens think relaxing is trolling Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. This actually can raise your anxiety level as keeping up with the responses and “likes” can result in worrying about whether you are popular enough or if others care about your posts. Drinking or drugs may be thought of as another relaxation alternative, but again, it is a false sense of calm. It may feel good at the moment the high kicks in but all of the issues you were dealing with before you took that drink, will still be there.
Anxiety is best treated before you are in that moment of severe anxiousness. It is critical to know how to relax before it hits and then what to do when it does. Relaxation takes different forms for everyone so you need to try various ways and find the one that works best for you.
- Relaxation breathing - Deep breaths in through your nose and out of your mouth focusing on nothing but your breathing, clears your mind and eliminates some of the negative energy that anxiety causes.
- Imagery – imagining yourself in a serene setting, such as near the ocean, in the mountains or in the sunshine. By focusing on these images, you are ridding your mind of the negative thoughts that were making you anxious.
- Exercise – running, walking, jumping, dancing, biking or yoga keep your energy focused in the right place and clear your mind of the unwanted stress.
- Sleeping – when you don’t get enough sleep, feelings of being overwhelmed tend to be magnified by being tired.
- Spending time with friends – being with others, talking out what is on your mind, doing some fun activities with friends all take away the stress and help you to put things in perspective.
- Laughter – laughter is a great stress reliever! Watch a funny show or rent a comedy with some friends. You will be surprised how much better you feel.
- Be rational and realistic – often in the moment of anxiety we lose our perspective. Ask yourself “what is the worst thing that can happen?” Often, the worst thing is manageable and something that can either be fixed or dealt with and not an issue that is life-threatening.
Some anxiety is necessary and helps us to try harder in certain situations and other anxiety is real because the predicament is serious. But if you are feeling anxious and it is causing panic attacks or is extreme without a grave set of circumstances, it is time to seek professional mental health assistance to help you work through it and find effective ways to help you manage it successfully.
