Research suggests that anxiety is high among teenagers, affecting their mental health and predisposing them to mental health diseases, such as depression and schizophrenia, and personality disorders, as well as poor physical health. The Mental Health Foundation reports that one in seven people in the UK suffer from excessive anxiety.
Trauma and Anxiety as Habit
Although it’s normal for people of all ages to experience fear, as teenagers’ minds and bodies develop, they are particularly vulnerable to having feelings of excessive fear. These feelings can become a habitual way of feeling and thinking, leading to panic disorders and anxiety/panic attacks.
Sometimes children have traumatic experiences and may appear not to be affected by these but may experience sudden stress without realising the trigger is connected to a past traumatic experience. Receiving medical advice and counselling can help teenagers identify if this is the case and help to minimise traumatic triggers that may result in stress behaviours and habits.
National Statistics on Teenage Anxiety
The Office for National Statistics Mental Health in Children and Young People reports that one in ten children up to the age of fifteen suffers a mental health disorder. Their findings also indicate that mental health problems among children rises as they become teenagers or reach adolescence.
National Statistics on Self-Harm and Suicide
If children and teenagers do not receive the treatment they need, their excessive anxiety can lead to more complex mental health conditions, and may lead to adolescent or adult suicide. The Samaritans and National Service Framework for Mental Health report that approximately 6,000 people die by suicide in the UK, with suicide being the main cause of death in men below age 35.
Understanding the symptoms and treatments available can help teenagers manage their anxiety before it becomes overwhelming, leading to more serious mental health states or suicide while in their teenage years or as adults. Anxiety is treatable through Counselling, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and through medication to reduce feelings of stress.
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