Anxiety Disorders and Teenagers : Symptoms, Causes, & Treatment for Anxiety Disorders

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Anxiety Disorders and Teenagers : Symptoms, Causes, & Treatment for Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety is a normal part of the human psyche.  Everyone has felt the effects of temporary anxiety. Moments before giving a big presentation, taking a tough exam, or other stressful events can temporarily raise your heart rate, make your stomach turn, and make you sweat. Anxiety is a necessary mental reaction to help prepare you for anticipated difficult situations. It can help keep you focused, alert, and motivated to solve problems. These reactions to stress are very common but what is the difference between normal anxiety and an anxiety disorder that requires professional help? Much like the difference between occasional sadness and depression, anxiety becomes a disorder when a person is chronically displaying anxiety symptoms and interferes with common day activities and responsibilities. Anxiety disorders can develop at a young age and increase as teenagers get older according to National Comorbidity Survey Replication – Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A).
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Miami Counseling : How To Find the Right Adolescent Counselor

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Choosing a therapist or counselor for your teenager is an important decision that should not be taken lightly. Therapy can help teenagers develop problem-solving skills, overcome emotional or behavioral problems, improve self-esteem, cope with stress, and improve communication skills with family members and friends. This report contains professional advice on choosing a therapist compiled from trusted authorities in adolescent mental health such as kidshealth.org, psychologytoday.com, and goodtherapy.org.
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Sexting And Teenagers

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Sexting And Teenagers
In case you are not familiar with his new problem among teenagers let’s start with a basic definition.  Sexting is defined as the act of sending sexually explicit images or text messages between cell phones.  Sexting between adults carries its own risks.  To me it can be tantamount to posting a naked picture of yourself on Facebook.  Something most of us would prefer to avoid.  Of course for teenagers the problem becomes more complicated and potentially much more damaging.  Three things come to mind.
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Bullying And Teenagers

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Bullying And Teenagers
Bullying has gotten a lot of attention in the past few years.  News agencies have run stories, researchers have published articles and governments have taken action.  We know more about bullying and its effects on teens now than at any other time in our history.  I collected the following information on bullying while I was working at the University of Miami and I present it below to inform parents, teenagers and families about bullying in more detail than the press can afford. It includes tips on what to do if your teenager is a bully or being bullied.
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Back To School For Teenagers, Easier.

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Getting started with school again after a nice long summer break can be a bittersweet time for teens. On one hand summer days can seem endless and boring. On the other hand its difficult to welcome back hard work and responsibilities with open arms. Its a trade off that can be difficult for some teens to adjust to. There are several common problems that teenagers tend to experience during the back to school season. Among them are sleep disturbances, increased social anxiety, and education/responsibility related stress. Let's talk a little about each one and what you can do as a parent to help your kids out.
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The Worst Thing About Weed - Perspective Of A Teen Specialist

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What the worst thing about smoking weed? I've been working with teens for 10 years, I have a masters in marriage and family therapy from U.M. and I've been involved in various research studies focusing on teenagers with substance abuse issues. So here is my professional opinion for what it's worth. This is the worst thing about weed: When you're high it makes it OK to be bored. It makes your anger, anxiety, shyness, shame and sadness go away for a while. You get hungry, you laugh, food tastes great, you sleep, you wake up feeling strung out and a little less sensitive to life's troubles. It's an escape from the painful and the mundane. And it works immediately, at least for a while. In short, smoking weed becomes how you deal with life's problems.
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Nurturing Mothers Boost Their Teen's Brain Power

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Finally! Scientific evidence that supports what mental health professionals have been saying for decades. When you nurture your child it is good for their brain. According to the article below children with nurturing mothers have a significantly larger brain structure, called the hippocampus, compared to children with less nurturing mothers.
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Smokeless Tobacco Use In Miami Teens Jumps 69%

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Teen substance abuse trends move so fast! When I was a teenager in South Florida I though only older people actually chewed tobacco. Now, it seems to be all the rage! Although, as a teen I do remember hearing (and believing!) the misinformation that it was not as harmful to your health compared to smoking cigarettes. Below is the article I found describing the increase in smokeless tobacco use in Miami teens and a good summary of the negative health effects.
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Who Should Teach Your Kids To Drink?

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Parents in Florida that are not opposed to their children learning to drink alcohol responsibly are faced with a dilemma. Should I teach my kid to drink at home and break the law or should I forbid it and hope that when my kid does start drinking that he/she will be responsible. It is indeed illegal for anyone under the age of 21 in the state of Florida to drink alcohol under any circumstances. Most states have exceptions to this rule, for example, in Georgia kids have the right to drink alcohol at home with parental consent.
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Affluent Teenagers - Privilege and Risk

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I recently read an article published by the National Institutes of Health about the mental health characteristics of affluent teenagers as compared to teenagers living near poverty. Before I read the article I assumed that teenagers with the stresses of poverty would have more significant mental health issues than the teenagers of affluent parents. According to this research I was wrong. Here is the link to the article:
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