Most people picture the younger generation as having good health, lots of energy, and an endless future. Unfortunately, not every teenager has an easy time of it. In fact, children between the ages of 12 and 18 may experience as many as 20% of mental health disorders.
For the sake of this piece, we’ll focus on social anxiety disorder (SAD), which, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), affects 9.1% of people between the ages of 13 and 18, with 1.3% of them experiencing severe problems. Continue reading to find more about what causes social anxiety in teenagers, and some signs that the teen in your life may be experiencing SAD.
WHY DO TEENS EXPERIENCE SOCIAL ANXIETY?
There are numerous factors that can cause social anxiety in teenagers. We’ll analyze five of the most popular ones in this section. Hereditary factors frequently affect mental health disorders. There is a larger likelihood that you will get SAD if you are a teenager whose parents or other family members have had social anxiety at some point. In a similar vein, your teen may be more prone to SAD if you as a parent have experienced social anxiety or have family members who have.
The Internet
The majority of us were born and raised in a time before social networking sites ever existed. On the other hand, teenagers nowadays have effectively lived in a society where social media is omnipresent their entire lives. Social media may bring us together with individuals from around the world, but it can also be very polarizing. In fact, studies show that kids’ anxiety levels may increase when they receive fewer “likes” on websites like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Teenagers who face humiliating circumstances, such as being unable to perform pull-ups in gym class or performing poorly on an exam and being teased, as well as bullying and rejection from potential romantic partners, may grow to have social anxiety.
A low sense of self
Teenagers are more likely to have social anxiety when they don’t feel confident in themselves. For instance, a person might not feel completely confident in their appearance; perhaps they feel they should lose weight, perhaps they don’t like how they look, or perhaps they have a physical condition that makes them anxious. If there is a spravato near me, contact them to schedule a consultation.
Personality
Teenagers’ intrinsic psychological features may make them more likely to experience social anxiety. For instance, timid introverted people may have anxiety before giving a speech in front of others, attending a social gathering, or even just ringing up customers at a part-time job as a cashier.
Now that you are aware of the potential causes of social anxiety disorder in teenagers, let’s move on to some warning indicators that may signal the adolescent in your life actually has the problem.
HOW TO IDENTIFY TEENS WHO ARE SOCIALLY ANXIOUS
You must pay attention and be aware of the signs that a teenager in your life is struggling with social anxiety. In this part, we’ll look at a few symptoms from three different areas that can point to an adolescent having SAD.
Teens who have social anxiety tend to withdraw because they feel helpless. They are often isolated from everyone else and are quiet and private. At the same time, they lack confidence, which is seen as a lack of eye contact, a trembling voice, and jittery behaviors.
Your teen may be struggling with social anxiety if their academic performance has declined, they aren’t engaged in class, and they aren’t participating in any extracurricular activities. A youngster may be suffering from SAD if they had held stable employment dealing with people frequently, such as a barista at a coffee shop, and they abruptly quit for no apparent reason.
