Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Teens

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

is a relatively common mental health issue defined as chronic excessive worry and fear (having no real cause) about daily events in a child or adolescent that cannot control and that is observed on most days for at least 6 months.

As a teenager anxiety is a normal sign of growth however when worries and fear interfere with your daily tasks and activities, it may present an anxiety disorder.  The difference between experiencing a normal level of anxiety and having GAD is that adolescents with GAD worry more frequently and excessively than adolescents without GAD in the same circumstances.

This intense distress interferes with daily functioning, and you might tend to be overly self-critical and try to avoid things you don’t think you can perform well. You might also frequently seek reassurance from your parents or teachers about your performance to relieve your anxiety and worry.

Worries might change over time, and when it is not treated, this can significantly impair your family, social and academic life.

Here are some common symptoms of GAD among adolescents:

  • Worry about many different things – such as physical appearance, past behaviors, personal abilities, family matters, peer social acceptance, and school performance.
  • Worrying about things before they happen – For instance, you have an important exam two months later, but you started to worry that you will fail, what if you must repeat the same grade again?
  • Refusing to go to school – you don’t want to go to school because of different reasons.
  • Sleep disturbances – your excessive worries and fears might interrupt your regular sleep routine, and you might have difficulty falling or having a good sleep. Also, experiencing insomnia might increase your worries and anxiety.
  • Frequent physical complaints – you might frequently experience headaches, stomachaches, or muscle pain.
  • Fatigue – you might feel exhausted.
  • Lack of concentration – you might be hard to concentrate on lessons or anything you perform.
  • Procrastination – your anxiety can cause postponing things, and some avoidance behavior. You might avoid some people or situations that can trigger your anxiety.
  • Clingy behaviors to family members.
  • Frequent thoughts and worries about the safety of yourself and family members – you might always be worried about your parents, and siblings’ health and safety.
  • Irritability
  • Inability to relax
  • Excessive worry about sleeping away from home- you might be invited to a sleepover by your best friend, but you might be afraid of something happening to you or your family if you would leave your home
  • Being easily startled
  • Expecting the worst even if there is no real reason to worry – thinking worst of all possible outcomes
  • Reassurance seeking – when you do perform something, you always need assurance from your family or teacher, otherwise, you would feel bad if you didn’t ask
  • Sweating – anxiety activates the stress hormones and stress response in the body, and the stress response of the body leads to elevated body temperature and respiration, and body response by sweating.
  • Tachycardia – is a medical term for an irregular fast heartbeat (heart rate over 100 beats in a minute). Anxiety might sometimes cause tachycardia in teens and adolescents. Anxiety and stress are triggers for that condition.

Some specific examples of worries:

  • “What will happen to me if my mom and dad die?”
  • “My friends don’t like me; they just pretend to do so.”
  • “I don’t understand this math subject, what if I’m going to fail.”
  • “Why can’t I run fast in gym class like everyone else?”

 

If you suffer some severe anxiety symptoms that bother your life, talk about this with your parents and search for professional health. There are different psychotherapy approaches that help to decrease anxiety symptoms and improve your life quality.