Issue Impacting Teens Today: Anxiety

Despite the traditional image of adolescence being a carefree time, without adult responsibilities, experiencing clinical anxiety is a significant risk for teenagers and only appears to be increasing. Parodi (et al., 2022) reports that nearly one third of all adolescents experience the symptoms of a diagnosable anxiety disorder, and 8.3% of all teens in this age group report significant life impairment in one or more life spheres, due to anxiety (Parodi et al., 2022). Rather than ignoring anxious behavior as a phase, it is critical to treat it appropriately as early as possible, otherwise the teen may continue to miss out on critical life milestones and anxiety may persist into adulthood.

There is also evidence that certain groups are disproportionately affected, which nurses should keep in mind when engaging in preliminary screening for the disorder. For example, while overall the number of adolescents meeting the threshold for clinical anxiety-screening criteria increased from 34.1% in 2012 to 44% in 2018, the increase for females relative to males and LGBT+ teens were greater (Parodi et al., 2022). Even for groups such as African American teens which did not show such a substantial increase, clinicians should be aware that some groups may be more reluctant to report symptoms or may be the victims of underreporting, and nurses should still be aware of the issue in this subgroup (Parodi et al., 2022). Teens in rural areas are also less apt to be diagnosed with anxiety than those living in urban areas; again, whether this is due to greater screening in urban areas or an actual reflection of mental health trends remains hotly debated (Bhatia & Goyal, 2018).

Regardless, if left untreated, anxiety disorders in adolescents are associated with a wide range of negative and lasting long-term outcomes, including poorer educational performance and vocational challenges, comorbidities with other psychological disorders in adulthood, heighted risk for substance abuse, earlier death, lower levels of work productivity, and increased use of mental and physical healthcare resources (Parodi et al., 2022). Earlier...…other health concerns is a risk or self to others should merit breaking confidentiality. Additionally, reported sexual abuse must be directed to the appropriate authorities, if that is disclosed when the adolescent is asked for the reasons for his or her depression.

Support Options

There are pharmacological options for treating adolescents with anxiety, including sertraline, but there are also non-pharmacological strategies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that strive to identify negative and unproductive thoughts and coping mechanisms, replacing them with rational ones (Bhatia & Goyal, 2018). Encouraging patients to discuss changes to manage anxiety, such as eliminating specific activities or taking a different courseload, may also be helpful, to navigate external stressors. For more mild cases, therapy does not necessarily have to be of long duration. Even single-session therapies for anxiety disorders have been found to provide some relief in teaching coping strategies to adolescents (Bertuzzi, et al., 2021). Ideally, the parent should be on board with treatment, with the childs consent (as much as it is possible to obtain,…