Addressing Stressors for Teens

Teens are experiencing higher levels of anxiety than before the COVID-19 pandemic,

leading to what is being referred to as a “mental health crisis.” Many children and teens

with anxiety set high expectations for themselves, and this leads to increased anxiety.

While many parents do set high expectations for their children, it’s not uncommon for

parents to report that their teens are harder on themselves than anyone else.

When teens put pressure on themselves to earn high grades, they may benefit from

their parents encouraging a focus on effort instead of outcome. For example, when

teens report a grade they earned, parents could ask about how much effort they made

on the assignment or test and praise strong effort instead of the grade earned. Similarly,

when a teen reports disappointment in their grade, a shift to effort may help boost their

mood. If the teen did not make a strong effort, troubleshooting could take place for how

to help them improve in the future.

For teens who plan to attend college, the college admissions process is a new

opportunity for increased anxiety. Deciding where to apply and where to attend can be

stressful in and of itself. Societal pressures to attend universities with high rankings on

lists of the top colleges leads to teens overcommitting themselves to extracurriculars,

taking all advanced classes, and trying to be the best at everything they do. Teens

already experiencing clinical anxiety should consider if they would be best served by an

environment filled with peers who put similarly high levels of pressure on themselves. If

teens apply to a variety of universities, they are likely to be accepted somewhere and

still have the opportunity to attend college, possibly somewhere that is a better fit than

their initially desired school.

Considering available time for self-care also applies to selecting classes in high school.

While students often receive the message that universities want to see them taking all

AP or honors classes, this is sometimes not in the best interests of students’ mental

health, especially for students already experiencing clinical anxiety. Often, these

students are intellectually capable of taking many difficult classes, but the workload

outside of school leads to less time available for self-care. Similarly, extracurriculars

should be chosen based on the activities teens enjoy or based on personal values

instead of in the service of building a resume. Spending all evening at an extracurricular

activity and staying up late working on homework will lead to poorer overall functioning,

including mental health functioning.

Another factor influencing sleep is what is referred to as “sleep hygiene.” Sleep hygiene

involves habits that affect quality of sleep. Poor quality of sleep or general lack of sleep

leads to an exacerbation of symptoms of anxiety, so healthy sleep hygiene is critical to

teens’ ability to function day-to-day. One factor that makes it difficult for teens to earn

high quality sleep is that, during the teen years, there is a natural shift to wanting to stay

up later and sleep later in the day. High schools often start before teens are fully

functional for the day, and this is made worse when teens have to wake up even earlier

for extracurricular activities that occur before the school day. This is why having good

sleep hygiene is so important, and the following are recommendations that could lead to

a better night’s sleep:

 Don’t sleep more than you need to feel rested the next day.

 Try to get up at the same time every day of the week. This can be a challenge for

teens who want to catch up on sleep on the weekend, but try not to sleep more

than 1-2 hours later on weekends than on weekdays.

 If you have a conflict you can at least partially resolve before bed, do so to avoid

lying in bed and ruminating about it.

 If you haven’t fallen asleep in about 30 minutes, get out of bed for at least a few

minutes to avoid teaching your brain that your bed is a place where you should

be awake. If you are checking the clock throughout the night to see how much

time you have left to try to sleep, turn it so you can’t see it from bed.

 Minimize caffeine, and remember that chocolate is also a source of caffeine, so

be thoughtful about consuming it at night.

 Make sure your bedroom has minimal light and noise and is a comfortable

temperature.

 Try to eat meals at consistent times each day. Try not to go to bed hungry, but

also don’t eat too close to bedtime. Also, if you are having to get up to go to the

bathroom during the night, try to reduce liquid intake close to bedtime.

 Exercise on a regular basis.

 Avoid taking naps, especially later in the day.

 Taking a shower 1-2 hours before bed may help you fall asleep.

 Stop using electronics within 30 minutes of bed. If you have to use electronics,

turn down the brightness as much as possible. Phones have accessibility

shortcuts to dim below the lowest brightness setting (reduce white point for

iPhones and extra dim for Android).

 Try to stay out of your bedroom except when it is time for sleep. This can be

challenging for teens, whose bedroom is their only personal space, so at least

stay out of bed except for when it’s time to sleep.

 Alcohol and smoking can lead to worse quality of sleep. These should not be

used before the legal age, but after reaching the legal age, use of these

substances should be avoided in the evening.

Written by Dr. Rebecca Suffness.

Dr. Suffness is a licensed psychologist at Austin Anxiety and OCD Specialists. She specializes in working with children, teens, and young adults experiencing stress, anxiety, and OCD. If you are interested in learning more about how to effectively support teens with stressors or if you would like to schedule a therapy appointment with Dr. Suffness please contact us at hello@austinanxiety.com or 512-246-7225.