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Mrs. Patricia Stelter. Dealing with your teen’s anxiety and stress. Don’t let them stress you out!. Anxiety and Stress. Anxiety: apprehension or excessive fear about real or imagined circumstances Anxiety and Stress = Worry shows in thinking, behavior, or physical reactions
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Mrs. Patricia Stelter Dealing with your teen’s anxiety and stress Don’t let them stress you out!
Anxiety and Stress • Anxiety: apprehension or excessive fear about real or imagined circumstances Anxiety and Stress = Worry shows in thinking, behavior, or physical reactions • Goal: not to eliminate all anxiety or stress; we need a healthy amount and need to learn how to operate daily with these barriers!
Anxiety Disorders • Exist and range from about 2-10% of children; more common in females than males • Most common are: • separation anxiety, • generalized anxiety disorder, • post-traumatic stress disorder, • social phobia disorder, and • obsessive-compulsive disorder
Relationship to Other Problems • Depression: Anxiety and depression occur together about 50-60% of the time • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): anxiety may appear similar to ADHD, which may be why some children seem to “not respond” to medicine. • School Performance: forgetfulness, inattentive, and difficulty organizing their work; they may be too much of a perfectionist and not satisfied with their work if it does not meet personal standards • Substance use: abusing drugs or alcohol may show sleep problems, inattention, withdrawal, and reduced school performance
Interventions: What can YOU do for your teen? • Although professional help is best, if the case does not warrant, here’s how to intervene: • Be consistent with how you handle problems and administer discipline • Anxiety is not willful but reflects an inability to control it; be patient and prepared to listen. Overly critical, disparaging, impatient, or cynical reactions will make it WORSE! • Do not communicate that perfection is realistic! • Accept mistakes; praise and reinforce effort • Teach strategies such as organization, practicing, and rehearsing/visualizing • Listen and talk on a REGULAR basis; do not treat emotions as unimportant- they may not see important to you, but they are real to your child. • Do not assume that your child is being difficult or that the problem will go away!
Types of Motivation What can you do to motivate and encourage your child? • Simple reminders • Belief in their abilities • Foster their belief in their abilities (Self-efficacy) • Goals making, development of self-efficacy (believing in one’s own abilities), positive mind-set toward learning
Examples of a Motivated Student Manages Time Well (Time- Management) Seeks Help Task oriented Motivated to go to school/classes Manages stress and communicated anxieties Uses effective and efficient learning strategies Has focus/concentration Practices Metacognition (our thinking about and regulation of our own thinking)