Signs Your Teen May Have An Anxiety Disorder

While it’s true that it is normal for teens to feel anxiety on occasion, suffering from a constant feeling of gg is a serious condition that affect millions teenagers, nationwide. This widespread mental illness is known as, general anxiety disorder.

For sufferers of general anxiety disorder, life is often overwhelming and even terrifying. While most teenagers feel anxiety when speaking in public, taking final exams, or competing in athletic competitions, teens suffering from GAD feel extreme anxiousness for extended periods of time. In severe cases, teens who suffer from a general anxiety disorder will feel overwhelming anxiousness every minute of every day.  

A teenager who suffers from an anxiety disorder like GAD experiences negative side effects that may greatly affect their relationships, extracurricular activities and schoolwork. Suffice to say, when

overwhelming anxiety interferes with a teen’s every day living, life can become unmanageable and may lead some afflicted teenagers to ‘self-medicate’ with harmful substances or even cause them to commit self-harm.   

The Prevalence of Anxiety Disorder in US. Teens

According to a recent report by the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 25% of teenagers (ages 13-18) suffer from an anxiety disorder. Up to 6% of these teens have a severe anxiety disorder.

Considering millions of teenage boys and girls are affected by GAD or other more severe conditions, it is imperative that parents fully know and recognize signs of a potential anxiety disorder. Below we have provided a comprehensive list of possible symptoms that may indicate an anxiety disorder. It is our hope that parents of anxiety-stricken teens are more easily able to identify, and therefore seek immediate treatment for their child’s anxiety disorder.