Most people want to get rid of their anxiety, and teens are no exception: “If I didn’t feel worried and scared, there’s so much I’d do.” Rather than trying to dispute or eliminate uncomfortable thoughts and feelings as a prerequisite to reaching our goals, it can be helpful to instead reframe anxiety as a source of important information about who we are and what matters to us.
If you suffer from panic attacks, phobias, obsessive thoughts, and all the other ways that chronic anxiety disorders can hijack your life and your freedom, here’s the good news:
You can overcome this. You can get your life back.
If all living creatures in the universe were gone, there would be nothing left of importance. Pollution? Without life, it would not exist as a “problem.” The river does not care. Death? Were the sun to die away, the rock would stand unconcerned.
Adolescent distress shows up in many ways, from moodiness and irritability to more explicit acting-out behavior. Parents, on the receiving end of their teens’ intense emotions, can find themselves reacting in ways they are not proud of.
