5 Tips for Parenting a Teenager with Anxiety

Children are personal treasures of parents. Nothing can replace them and no one could ever take them away as your own. As parents of these living jewels, it is hard to cater to all their needs much more if you are bringing up a child filled with anxiety. So we are giving five parenting tips to help out those parents whose kids are battling with the symptoms of anxiety:

Perfectionism never helps; Tips for Parenting a Teenager with Anxiety No 1.

As a parent, it is understandable that you want the best for your children. However when you get to the point that you seek perfection in everything that your child does or makes, it will pressure the kid. This will then submit him or her into a stressed cognition that makes the child anxious thinking that mom or dad will not be pleased if they settle for mediocrity or just ‘best’ but not ‘perfect’. So try to assess yourselves if you’ve ever been like this and change because your upbringing is one of the causes of your child’s anxiety. Make them see that you’re proud of whatever they do and reassure them that even if they’re not perfect, you still love them.

Do your best in educating them that being anxious, bothered and scared of something is not really bad.  Furthermore, reassure them by letting them know that being anxious or scared is certainly part of being human. Tell them it’s alright to feel that way but it’s difficult to become paranoid and getting ruled over by their anxiety. When you make them understand and they start to loosen up, support them as they little by little put their guards down and open up to the world. It is also important that you tell them that they can always count on you should they need someone to talk when anxiety creeps in.

Don’t show fear; Tips for Parenting a Teenager with Anxiety No 3.

When you are stressed yourself, don’t show it to your anxious child. They will easily catch up to the situation and will feel anxious as well. When they observe how you fear something, they will suppress themselves from exploring and experiencing and these are important especially in the adolescence period. That is why as a parent show them how to regulate their fears and promote the good sides of the world. It may seem difficult but as a parent, you have to do your best to show to your child that you are still strong and confident even when faced with highly-stressful situations.

Adjust your responses; Tips for Parenting a Teenager with Anxiety No 4.

Anxious teenagers are under a lot of pressure and crisis. Mostly, all these happen inside their heads. As a parent, you should be quick enough to sense what is going on around them and adjust your responses to their needs accordingly. For example, when they talk back at you, understand that they are in their adolescence period and so many unexplainable things are bothering or pressuring them. Don’t react immediately. If you respond to them with the same heat, they’ll be pushed into a corner whereas if you adjust your tone and expression to calm them down and not face them off, they’ll be able to slowly open up and express themselves better. Do not forget to tell them as well that shouting back at you is never a good thing to do.  Furthermore, tell them that shouting and yelling will never be able to resolve conflicts better than a calm and respectful conversation.

Seek professional help; Tips for Parenting a Teenager with Anxiety No 5.

If you observe that your child is really troubled and anxious about things even after all you have done, then it is best to seek professional help. Anxious teens have problems in expressing themselves and maybe they are undergoing something that they are afraid to tell you being their parents and all. In this case, ask for some advice from experts or try bringing your child with their consent to these professionals.

Living in these stressful times have made almost all of us become so vulnerable to stress and anxiety. However, with much love and care everybody in the family will cease to be vulnerable to stress and anxiety. But, whenever a shadow of anxiety starts to creep in, something must be done right away. Never wait for it to exacerbate lest everybody in the family will also be adversely affected.