Anxiety In Youth
Part 1: Intro to Youth Anxiety
What’s going on with stress, anxiety and depression in children and youth? When I first started working in schools, I realized that there is an extensive process and protocol in getting clearance. Unmistakably, the number one priority was ensuring safety of the children. As a result, I was required to have extensive criminal record checks completed. Further to this, there were references checks and interviews to ensure the security and safety. Rightly so. Refereed to as a “vulnerable population”, the importance of ensuring our young people’s well-being is and should be paramount. For children, injury and trauma can impact them for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, it can impact future generations (*Blog post to come). What people experience in formative years dictates future happiness, relationships, social well-being, physical and mental health, and virtually everything else that is important as people in this world.
Generally, we consider youth as a time of freedom and exploration. Typically, young people in this stage of life learn to socialize and learn about themselves. Youth is a time of building relationships and forming view and values of ourselves and the outside world. As well, this is a time of building relational bonds based on connecting, communication and guidance. Ideally, youth have this time in preparation for taking on more responsibility and the demands of an adult world. This should be a time of enjoyment, and discovery, building feelings of security and confidence to lead into adulthood. In reality, things for most youth are not like this anymore.
Children and Youth
Anxiety, stress and depression in children and youth is at an all time high. Unfortunately, the momentum is heading in the wrong direction. In fact, youth anxiety, depression and unhealthy stress is on the rise. It is estimated that in the US, 17 million children suffer anxiety, stress or mental health issues (US Stats). Furthermore, that statistics indicate that 22% of youth will experience some form of extreme stress, emotional issues or mental illness by the age of 18.
The evidence is shocking. More and more young people are seeking counselling and psychological help than ever and the trend is only increasing. Further to this, more and more young people are being prescribed anxiety medication and antidepressants. Of course, these are only the ones being diagnosed. Thousands of young people are suffering anxiety, depression and unhealthy levels of stress without diagnosis, or help. This is an alarming epidemic that is not being addressed nearly enough. But why?
Why Anxiety in Youth
We know that youth anxiety is a problem. A huge problem. The schools know it. Doctors know it. Parents. Everyone. Anxiety, whether in youth or adults, is looked at through the optics of the most visible signs. I suppose this is true of many social issues. We look at the symptoms. The pain. Not often do people look at anxiety to discern the root cause. This is much more difficult and it takes a great deal of patience and time. In dealing with stress related conditions we tend to treat the problem and not the causes. This is especially true with youth. Disciplinary measures, class assignment, learning assistance are all surface ways of dealing with children and youth that are having difficulty. The next steps are school counselling, doctors, and often times prescription of medication. These steps are often completely necessary. At times beneficial. Short term.
However, if we really want to get to the long term solutions of why our children are suffering anxiety we need to look at the root causes. Besides trauma, which needs a separate discussion of it’s own, there are societal factors that are working against our kids. And us. We will be discussing each of the following topics in detail in the following blog series on Youth and Anxiety.
Upcoming Articles
- The culture of youth
- Youth and Technology
- Social Being
- The Family Unit
If you suspect your young people are struggling with anxiety, depression and excessive, unhealthy or prolonged stress, do not wait to act. Talk to them. Listen to them. If needed seek professional help.