An Ode to Teenage Anxiety

Anxiety is like a little monster you can’t get rid of, that just follows you around wherever you go, lurking in the corners, waiting to attack. Anxiety and I have had quite a rough past. Way back when in the good ole’ days of middle school, I lived a blissful, anxiety-free life. Yet the moment freshmen year high school hit I first encountered anxiety and I couldn’t get rid of it since!  Every day stress consumed my life and anxiety littered my mind with ideas and expectations that were necessary to meet. Juggling school, dance, student senate, ambassador's club, art club, and my social life became impossible. Not only did I partake in many rigorous activities, I of course had to excel at each and every one of them. If I fell short of the mark I obviously wouldn't be accepted into a reputable college and the rest of my life would be ruined, done, and destroyed with no hope of a successful future.

To me, it all comes down to this immense pressure to succeed, to be the best, to be better than the rest. The idea of competition, though, is really complex because it is both good and bad. I am all for being competitive. I love the drive to strive for more, but when does it become an issue? When did this harmless competition turn into unimaginable stress? See, in my opinion, society has created this ideal that every teenager needs to meet a certain standard in order to be considered worthy, successful, or impressive. In order to obtain these qualities you must be a genius, top of your class, or the number one varsity athlete, which we all know is just unrealistic. I know so many kids these days who take on so many activities, and end up miserable, drowning in their work. 

I think that anxiety has always existed, but recently it has risen to seriously unhealthy levels. The cause? Everything from 911, terrorism, collegiate competition, you name it. Yet again, I think that at the root of it all is the competition to be the best. When can we stop worrying about everyone else and focus on what makes us happy? Why is that never stressed? Why don’t parents push their kids to keep on exploring new fields until they find something that they are truly passionate about?

That is where the difference comes in. If everyone strived to excel at what makes him or her happy, I think anxiety would significantly decrease. However, I recognize that I could say this all day, every day, and nothing would change. All that I know is that when it comes down to the wire, what matters most is harnessing in and controlling your anxiety instead of letting it control you. 

Here are a few tips Tara Miller's article "100 Natural Ways to Overcome Anxiety":

Stress Reduction

1. Let go of control. Learn to accept that some things are beyond your ability to control. Once this expectation is gone, you will likely discover a reduction of your stress.
2. Do one thing at a time. Slow down and stop multitasking. Doing one thing at a time will reduce stress and allow you to perform each task more efficiently.
3. Learn to say "no". Turning away what you don’t have time to do will free you from obligations that will end up hanging over your head.
4. Emotions. Keep in touch with your emotions. Pretending you don’t have feelings of anger, sadness, or loneliness will just push these feeling down until they come back out in negative ways.
5. Let go of anger. Don’t hold on to anger or grudges. Instead, learn how to let go so you can focus on more positive things.
6. Identify stressors. Realize what makes you feel stressed and do something to change them. If watching the news makes you stressed, turn it off. If driving in traffic raises your blood pressure, then find ways to change or delay driving so you aren’t in traffic.
7. Learn time management techniques. Organizing your time and energy will help you complete tasks more efficiently and clear the way for less stress in your life.
8. Make time for yourself. Making sure you carve out some time for yourself every day will not only give you time to do something you enjoy, but will help you relax as well.
9. Journal. Identify stressors or just get out those negative feelings you may not want to tell other people with a private journal.
10. Find your sense of humor. Learning to laugh at life and finding the joy every day will go a long way to reducing stress.