Teen Anxiety Treatment

Table of Contents
Making a Diagnosis
Power of Therapy
Medications Needed
What Parents Can Do

Stress is designed to help the body prepare for a challenge. The senses are honed, the brain is alert, and the body is tense and ready to spring into action. It’s a useful tool the body can use when a test or threat is imminent, and it’s considered a natural, and even a healthy, response by the human brain. Sometimes, however, this system can go awry. For example, teens with an anxiety disorder have a stress response that’s spun out of control. They face feelings of anxiety frequently, even when they’re facing no threat whatsoever. As a result, every day can be filled with stress and fear, leaving the teen unable to function normally. It can be frightening, but it can also be treated in an anxiety disorder treatment program. Here, the teen can learn to understand this out-of-control response, and build up skills that can help the teen control it.

Making a Diagnosis

Teen anxiety disorders are common in teens. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that 25.1 percent of people ages 13 to 18 develop some form of anxiety disorder. This large number may be attributed, in part, to the fact that the term “anxiety disorder” refers to so many different specific illnesses. All these diseases are considered anxiety disorders:

  • Generalized anxiety. The teen worries excessively about nearly everything.
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Teens translate their anxiety into a series of rituals that are designed to keep them safe.
  • Phobia. Teens develop a persistent fear of something that may not actually be dangerous.
  • Social phobia. The teen develops a persistent fear of other people, and may be reluctant to speak in front of others.
  • Panic attacks. At seemingly random times, the teen is consumed with an intense bout of panic-related symptoms, including a racing heart, sweating and dizziness.
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder. Teens who experience some sort of trauma may be consumed with memories of that event.

Obviously, all these disorders are quite different. In fact, a teen who is experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder might not even be able to relate to a teen who has social phobia. They may not find that they have anything in common. Similarly, a treatment that works for a child with phobia might not work with a child who has obsessive-compulsive disorder. For this reason, doctors must take the child through a series of tests at the beginning of treatment to determine what, exactly, is affecting the teen. With this diagnosis firmly in hand, doctors can then develop a treatment plan to help the teen recover.

Anxiety Treatment TherapyThe Power of Therapy

Teens with anxiety disorders may not fully understand what is happening to them. They may know the symptoms they’re feeling are unpleasant, but they may not truly understand that these symptoms are both unusual and unhealthy. Therapy is designed to give the teen this sort of awareness and empower that teen to make needed changes. Often, therapists use a technique called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) when they’re working with teens who have anxiety disorders.

An article published in the journal Primary Psychiatry suggests that teens with anxiety disorders have a hyper-alert nervous system that overreacts when presented with even a minor problem. The nervous system floods the body with stress chemicals, and when those chemicals reach the brain, the teen begins to believe that he or she is in danger. As a result of those thoughts, the teen begins to behave in ways that are harmful. The teen might avoid the situation altogether, engage in rituals or simply endure feeling frightened and scared for hours on end. While it’s impossible for therapists to keep the nervous system from overreacting, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques can help the teen intercede when the brain begins to respond. When the negative thoughts arise, telling the teen that he or she is in danger, the teen can use logic to override those untrue thoughts.

In many ways, CBT is like a weight-training program. The teen identifies specific weaknesses, strengthens those weaknesses and then moves forward in a more powerful way. A significant amount of homework is required, as the teen needs to build up those skills, and often, the teen must do a series of exercises with a trainer to practice using those newfound skills.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques can be incredibly helpful for teens with anxiety disorders. A study in the British Journal of Clinical Psychology found that 56.5 percent of teens with generalized anxiety improved when given this sort of therapy. Learning these sorts of skills can have a powerful impact on teens who struggle with intrusive thoughts on a regular basis, and the skills they learn can stick with them throughout the rest of their lives. For example, a study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology found that 85.7 percent of teens who completed CBT six years prior had no symptoms when contacted for follow-up sessions. The lessons they learned in therapy stayed with them for a long time, and helped them heal.

Once again, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy isn’t used the same by all therapists. The treatment is adjusted based on the specific anxiety disorder the teen has. For example, some teens with anxiety disorders benefit when their parents attend therapy sessions with them. Other teens do not. The teen’s therapist takes these factors into account when designing the proper treatment program.

Anxiety Help for TeensMedications May Be Needed

Some teens with anxiety disorders have chemical imbalances that present obstacles to healing. Until those imbalances are corrected, it’s hard for the teen to think clearly and participate fully in a treatment program. For these teens, medications may be helpful. There is a wide variety of medications that can be used to treat these disorders. The drug fluvoxamine, for example, might be helpful for teens with social phobia or generalized anxiety disorder, according to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The drug sertraline (Zoloft) might also help these patients, according to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Many other medications are also available to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorders.

In most cases, however, these drugs can take weeks or months to resolve the teen’s symptoms, and sometimes, teens can become frustrated or impatient with the medications and they may stop taking them altogether. Parents of teens who take medications should do their part to stay involved with their teens and ensure that each dose is taken at the proper time, per the doctor’s instructions. Abruptly ceasing medications could cause a boost of anxiety for the teen.

What Parents Can Do

Watching a child struggle with anxiety disorders can be incredibly difficult. Parents love their children and want them to succeed, and watching them exhibit fear and stress on a daily basis can be devastating. Sometimes, parents simply need to know that they can do something to help the situation improve. Standing idly by can be difficult. Taking action can be empowering. The Anxiety Disorders Association of America suggests that parents can help their children by:

  • Praising small accomplishments
  • Staying calm if the child becomes anxious
  • Sticking to normal routines, but again, staying calm if the child becomes too anxious to move forward with a specific activity
  • Withholding punishment if the child makes mistakes or doesn’t make progress
  • Listening to the child and paying attention to the child’s feelings
  • Lowering or modifying expectations during stressful times

In addition, parents can maintain close ties with their child’s therapist. Teens with anxiety disorders may downplay their symptoms or hide their true feelings in order to impress their therapists with their progress. By checking in frequently, and reporting any concerns or unusual behavior, parents can help ensure that the child’s treatment stays on track and the therapist has all of the needed information to help the child heal.

In some cases, parents can participate in group counseling sessions with their child. Some therapists use a form of family counseling in which the parent and the child meet with a counselor and work on improving their relationship. The parent might learn how to use positive language, instead of critical language, and the child might learn how to speak openly and honestly without lashing out or fearing reprisal. This sort of therapy has proven quite effective in children with anxiety disorders. For example, a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that teens who participated in this form of therapy showed greater signs of improvement, when rated by outside evaluators, than did teens who did not participate in this form of therapy. While the researchers don’t make this clear, it’s also quite possible that the parents improved in this program, as they learned how to build up a meaningful relationship with their teens.

At Newport Academy, we believe in the power of parents and we anchor our treatments within the concept of the family. We think that including parents is one of the best ways to help a child heal. Please call us today to find out more about our programs.