“Anxiety is a reaction to a situation we perceive as stressful or dangerous.” says licensed clinical psychologist Monique Reynolds, Ph.D
Teens and young adults face anxiety more so than ever before. There are now millions of young people dealing with some sort of anxiety on a day-to-day basis and for many of them, they struggle to cope. You cannot blame people as to why they feel very anxious about daily life as the pressures are growing. For some, they deal with their anxieties by locking themselves away in a house all day long and pretending to be lazy and ‘a normal teen or young adult’ but, in truth, that’s not always the reason behind it. Why is there such a surge in anxiety in young people today?
Life As We Know It
Why are so many teens and young adults plagued with anxiety problems? In all honesty, it’s down to modern life. Life is never easy but there are so many pressures on teenagers and indeed young adults. Modern life brings about lots of new challenges and for the most part, they’re hard to cope with. There are pressures on young girls to look good and if a young woman tries her best to become a size zero with the perfect look but she isn’t happy with the results, it can lead to anxiety. Young men are also becoming more perfectionist-like with lots of pressure on them to become almost male models with perfect looks. Those are only two very small examples but there are lots more and it’s really all contributing to anxiety in teens and young adults.
“These days it seems like worry and overwhelm are just normal. You’ve just gotten so accustomed to juggling it all – but inside you’re afraid you’re about to drop everything.” says Elizabeth Cush, LCPC.