It’s our body’s way of preparing us to manage challenging situations. Sometimes anxiety can help us perform better by making us feel alert and motivated.

Anxiety can come and go – but for some people, it can stick around for a long time, end up having a big impact on their daily lives, and stop them from achieving their full potential.

Family and friends might worry about what it means for their young person who is experiencing anxiety. It’s easy to think about ‘worst case scenarios’ which can feel overwhelming. However, if your young person is experiencing anxiety that’s impacting on their lives, the good news is that with the right support and tools, things can get better.

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Common anxiety disorders

Anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fears. They can significantly affect how a person feels, thinks, behaves and interacts with others.  People can experience different types of anxiety disorders, but it’s important to know that they can all be treated.

Some common anxiety disorders are:

• Generalised anxiety: Excessive worry about a variety of things, such as work or school performance. Someone experiencing generalised anxiety disorder may feel that their worries are out of control, feel tense and nervous most of the time, have trouble sleeping or find it hard to concentrate.
  
  
• Social anxiety: Intense anxiety in social situations due to fear of embarrassment or judgment by others. This often leads a person to avoid social situations, such as talking in class, going to parties, being the centre of attention or meeting new people.
  
  
• Separation anxiety: Intense anxiety about being away from loved ones, such as parents or siblings, or excessive worry about them being hurt.
  
  
• Agoraphobia: Intense anxiety about using public transport, being in open spaces, being in enclosed spaces, being in a crowd or being alone outside of home.
  
  
• Panic disorder: This is when a person has lots of panic attacks and experiences ongoing fears about having another panic attack.
  
  
• Specific phobias: Intense fear of a particular situation or object (like small spaces or spiders) that leads a person to avoid the situation or object.

When should I encourage professional help?

If your young person doesn’t seem to be improving over time, or if things seem to be getting worse, encourage them to seek professional help. You could support them to visit their local doctor or their nearest headspace centre, or contact eheadspace for online and phone support. If they are attending school, TAFE or university, they may also be able to access a student counselling or wellbeing service.

An important part of professional support is often psychological therapy. This might involve helping the young person to understand their experiences of anxiety and to address unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns. In some instances, medication may also helpful.

The good news is that most young people with anxiety respond well to treatment. While their anxiety may still come and go from time to time, with right support and tools, your young person can get back to enjoying life again. Remember, getting support and treatment early can make a big difference when dealing with anxiety, and help to prevent further episodes of anxiety.