Having a teen with anxiety can be challenging. As a parent or caregiver, you may be unsure about the next steps to take. When it comes to helping your teen, knowledge is power. Getting a better understanding of how anxiety impacts teens can help you offer more effective support. It can also help to learn more about the average duration of anxiety symptoms and when to seek treatment.
Has your teen been experiencing persistent symptoms of anxiety? If so, you may be hoping their symptoms will get better with time. While anxious feelings can sometimes go away over time, it is important to ensure that your child’s mental health does not go overlooked. If your teen has an anxiety-related mental health condition, their symptoms may only worsen over time when left untreated. Learning about the key symptoms of anxiety in teens can help you make informed decisions about your teen’s care.
Common symptoms of anxiety in teens
- Restlessness — One of the most common symptoms of anxiety in teens is restless behavior. Restless behavior can manifest in many different ways. Your teen may have difficulty sitting still, compulsively moving their legs or hands. You might notice them pacing often instead of sitting or standing in place. Anxiety makes it difficult to feel fully relaxed. As a result, your teen may seem constantly on edge, even in situations where everyone else is calm. If your teen seems to be restless all the time, the cause could be an anxiety condition.
- Chronic worry — People with anxiety tend to worry about many aspects of their life, from interpersonal relationships to upcoming events. From the outside, this worry can seem excessive. For example, your teen may get very stressed over a relatively minor school assignment. Anxious worries can be persistent and hard to control. If your teen is frequently stressed out or worried, treatment may be necessary. Understanding your teen’s mental state can be crucial for offering intervention at the right time.
- Fatigue — Anxiety is exhausting. When a person is chronically under the mental strain of anxiety, it can take a physical toll. Does your teen seem to be tired all the time despite getting enough sleep each night? This persistent fatigue could be related to an anxiety condition. Anxiety-related fatigue can also lead to cognitive difficulties, such as concentration issues. For example, your teen may struggle to focus on homework and chores for extended periods of time.
- Insomnia — Anxiety-related fatigue can have many underlying causes. While mental strain is a major issue, insomnia can also play a role. Sleep problems are a common aspect of anxiety conditions. If your teen has anxiety, they may struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep. When they do sleep, your teen may experience nightmares connected to their anxious thoughts. If your teen is unable to get enough sleep, intervention is essential. Insomnia can cause other symptoms such as irritability to worsen, making your teen’s anxiety more difficult to manage.
- Physical symptoms — Fatigue is not the only physical symptom connected to anxiety. When someone experiences persistent stress and worry, it can have a wide range of physiological effects. Common physical symptoms include headaches, stomachaches and dizziness. Your teen may complain about feeling sick despite having no clear medical cause for their symptoms. Muscle tension is another physical symptom of anxiety that can lead to localized pain and stiffness. If your teen is suffering physical ailments as a result of their anxiety, the best solution can be addressing the source of their symptoms. Targeted mental health treatment programs can help your teen work toward long-term improvement.
When to treat anxiety disorder in teens
If your teen is experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, treatment may be necessary. Anxiety conditions, also referred to as anxiety disorders, should be addressed as quickly as possible to prevent symptoms from worsening. A comprehensive professional assessment can determine if your teen has an anxiety condition.
In addition to symptom severity, it is also important to consider how long your teen’s symptoms have lasted. If their symptoms have persisted for two weeks or more, an underlying mental health condition is likely the cause. You may also want to consider how anxiety is interfering with your teen’s daily life. Teens with anxiety often miss school. The reasons for this can vary from social anxiety to difficulty concentrating in class. Left untreated, anxiety can lead to a serious academic decline. Mental health treatment can help your teen manage their symptoms and improve their grades.
Help your teen get tailored anxiety treatment at Embrace U
Embrace U offers effective outpatient programs for treating anxiety in adolescents. Following a free clinical consultation, your teen can start participating in an anxiety treatment plan personalized to match their condition and needs.
Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.