It was really hard for me to know what was normal and what was anxiety that I should be worried about - mom, 56

One of the challenges with anxiety is that teens may struggle to different degrees at different times. As a parent, it’s your right to worry about your teen. However, there are definitely times where you might want to worry more, and times where you can worry less.

Understanding a Normal Amount of Anxiety in Teens

As we’ve mentioned before, anxiety can be a normal and adaptive reaction to stressful situations. If your teen is preparing for a big sporting event, feeling nerves and anxiety can prepare them to perform at their best. Because some amount of anxiety is normal and positive, it can make it difficult to assess when your teen has begun to experience an un-healthy response with anxiety.

Important concept: Baseline

An important concept that we will refer to throughout this guide is the idea of a baseline behavior. Your teen’s baseline behavior is the behavior that they have exhibited over the course of time. If your teen has always been highly energetic and social, then their baseline behavior will be different from a teen who has always been quiet and shy. There is no right or wrong when it comes to your teen’s baseline - what’s important is that you have an understanding of what their baseline is so that you can notice deviations from their baseline over time.

When should you be concerned about anxiety?

We will go into more depth about how to notice anxiety later in the guide. For now, a general rule of thumb for when you should begin to be concerned about your teen’s anxiety is when it causes significant distress and impairs your teen's ability to function and thrive. For example, if they stop doing the things that they like to do abruptly or have a new difficulty seeing friends - your alarm bells should start to go off. Let’s outline a few of the major things that should alert you to a potential problem with your teen.

Signs that might warrant concern

“I often look for signs of irritability and what would be deemed as a ‘shorter fuse’. These can often go hand in hand with disordered anxiety symptoms.” - Ahmed Khan

• Intense and Prolonged Symptoms: Pay attention to the intensity and duration of your teen's anxiety symptoms. Severe and persistent anxiety may indicate a need for professional guidance.

• Significant Impact on Daily Functioning: Notice if your teen's anxiety affects academic performance, relationships, or participation in activities they once enjoyed.

• Physical Symptoms: Be aware of physical signs of distress, such as headaches or stomach aches, combined with emotional distress.

• Deteriorating Mental Health: Take note of concerning changes in your teen's mental health, such as signs of depression or self-harm.

• Escalating Frequency and Intensity: Watch for an escalation in your teen's anxiety symptoms over time.

Next steps

If you’ve made it this far, you probably believe that there might be something more going on with your teen and their anxiety. Now that we’ve recognized that there might be something going on, we need to understand what types of anxiety are out there and how we can narrow down to recognize what your teen is going through. There’s a lot to cover, so continue reading.