Stress is a response that our body has to a specific situation that requires many resources. If we do not believe we are able to deal with it successfully, we are likely to feel overwhelmed, nervous and eventually feel exhausted.
Anxiety arises when there is continuous stress in our day to day. For example, the adolescent sent stress to a job to be delivered next week or to a calendar full of exams every week.
Adolescents also discover their independence and identity thanks to the social groups to which they belong outside the home. The social is crucial at this stage of development, which also generates anxiety for the fear of not fitting or being rejected.
The two main tyoes of anxiety taht adolescents experience are:
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Panic Attacks
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Social Anxiety
1. Anxiety Attacks
Anxiety attacks occur when there is a very rapid and intense increase in anxiety that is extremely unpleasant for the person. You may feel discomfort, choking, palpitations, dizziness, fainting, sweating, trembling, nausea and tingling.
Also, sometimes excessive anxiety can produce a feeling of depersonalization (feeling like I am out of my body) or derealization (feeling that I am not there). During the attacks the fear of dying and the fear of going crazy may appear.
Anxiety attacks are usually unexpected at first, although as time goes by they are associated with a place or situation such as car, subway, airplanes, elevators etc. When this happens we say that there is anxiety attack with agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is the fear of having anxiety or similar symptoms in public places or from which it is difficult to escape. For example, agoraphobia can be fear of fainting at the dentist or in the queue of the cinema, places where running away is complicated.
The way to overcome anxiety is through psychoeducation, coping with places or situations where anxiety appears, and by changing the way we interpret and think about certain situations that occur to us. This requires patience, effort and therapeutic help.
2. Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is the discomfort and nervousness you feel in the face of fear of being negatively evaluated by others in a situation with other people. This anxiety can affect our well-being and our life, since many situations of our day to day are social.
Adolescents are in a critical period, where the image and the skills to interact with others play a very important role in the adolescent’s self-esteem. Therefore, social anxiety is more common in this period.
Social anxiety arises because the person is worried about what he says and does, thinking that others are constantly evaluating him and that they will judge him harshly if he makes any mistake. That is, there is a constant self-evaluation and a perfectionist goal that makes you see that a supposed mistake is something unforgivable.
Psychotherapy is a great help, do not hesitate to contact
Contact
Diana Faon Psychotherapy – Pscyhologist in Madrid-
Diana Faón Psicoterapia 