Teens struggle with anxiety, but what is it?

By Hannah Haslett

    When people think about anxiety, they think that it’s just worrying about stuff. In reality, Anxiety goes way beyond just worry. Believe it or not, anxiety is way more common than you think.

Having anxiety means being in a constant state of worry and fear. We've all heard about anxiety from time to time but to suffer from it means something else. 

The first thing I think about when I think of anxiety is stress and worry about the future. It’s totally normal to experience worry about a test, a first date, or moving to college. These are all normal things to worry about. Anxiety becomes an issue when you worry about something to the extent that it becomes an interference in your daily life. 

For me, anxiety became a problem when I overthought everything. I created “what ifs” in my head that realistically, would never happen. I knew that these scenarios I was creating would most likely never happen, but my anxiety said otherwise. I couldn’t focus in school, I had trouble sleeping and I was pushing people away. These overwhelming thoughts continued to snowball and were literally taking over my life. 

When someone says they experience anxiety, this can mean lots of things. Many different types of anxiety are probably familiar to you. Anxiety is one of the most common mental health disorders in the world. Whether it’s social anxiety, panic disorders, phobias, general anxiety, or separation anxiety they all have different indicators of something that could be more serious. Anxiety symptoms include shortness of breath, shaking, increased heart rate, dizziness, and hot flashes. The causes for anxiety are pretty much unknown, (and yes this is ironic coming from someone with anxiety) It could come from your environment, psychological, genetic, or developmental experiences. 

When it comes to being diagnosed, a lot of people self-diagnose themselves. I highly do NOT recommend doing that. If you’re having trouble with anxiety, it might just be a simple hormonal imbalance and could be an easy fix. Your first step should be visiting a doctor. A lot of people assume that they can’t get help or avoid the situation altogether because they don’t want anything to be wrong. It's okay to need help, life didn't come with an instruction manual!