General Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Those suffering from GAD spend many hours worrying. This excessive and chronic worrying consumes and distracts from normal activity, disrupting routines and day to day life. Normal daily activities can trigger the obsessive worrying.v

A feeling of sudden terror or pending doom occurring without warning could be signs of panic disorder in teens. The panic attacks trigger an increased heart rate, chest pains, shortness of breath, dizziness and an upset stomach. Teens will often fear the next panic attack coming on, creating a seemingly unbreakable circle. There may often be a particular situation or set of circumstances that may trigger a panic attack. Understanding the triggers facilitates accurate treatment.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Often termed “Social Phobia”, social anxiety disorder is relatively common in teenagers and is much different from simply being naturally shy or quiet. With social anxiety disorder, a teenager will experience fear with others, often being worried that they may say or do the wrong thing or look out of place. This disorder causes teens to withdraw from social or group settings that affect them in a variety of ways, sometimes creating other phobias or disorders.

Treatment for teen anxiety disorder can take the form of either medication or therapy, and sometimes a combination of the two is most effective. Therapy will focus on reducing tension, improving relationships and improving sleep patterns brought on by the disorder. Therapy will always focus on finding the root cause of the problem rather than simply addressing the symptoms, as well as understanding the triggers and why the triggers are so is important. Receiving a full evaluation is important to properly diagnose the disorder and recommend the appropriate course of treatment.