Overcoming Social Anxiety Disorders in Teens- Part 1
I would like to start this article with some quotes that I found in some forums (not verbatim, for confidentiality and copyright reasons).
"I'm in my 'X' year of college and I don't know what I want to do with my life.
" "I'm barely passing the exams and I'm a social mess.
" "I can't talk to people, I feel like the little confidence I once had is now completely gone.
" "My soul and my personality seem missing from my life.
" "I need help and I want help I just don't know where to get help from.
" "My college has shy students.
But the moderators always try to steer you towards self-deception, "tricking" yourself into thinking "positive".
I just found that laughable as a concept.
" Do these comments raise concern in your mind about our youth? It alarmed me as I read these posts in the forums.
Our youth are suffering from the after-effects of stress and we're not paying enough attention to their silent cries for help.
That is even more disconcerting to me and I feel that we need to take action as parents, guardians, counselors and coaches to stop the atrophy of the future of the human race before it is too late.
Reasons for Social Anxiety Disorders in Teenagers Social anxiety disorders are not the result of just one or two stressful days.
It could be the net effect of years of stress imposed knowingly or unknowingly on the minds of our youth, possibly since early childhood.
The environment that the person has grown up in often plays a big factor for shaping the character.
Children growing up in families having domestic turmoil or living in rough neighborhoods or peer pressure at school often grow up with inferiority complexes and lack of self-confidence.
Moreover some parents who want to see an image of their own continue on to the next generation often are guilty of literally imposing a certain line of study or career on their child, who may not have the proper acumen or basic inclination to follow that area of specialization.
Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorders Warning signs may be almost subliminal in the toddler and early school years, but they tend to become increasingly evident as the child moves through the schooling system.
Symptoms such as falling grades, avoiding social gatherings, spending more time at home rather than out in activities with kids of the same age group, preference to stay behind closed doors, a generally quiet and unusually introvert nature, random blank stares (as if drifting away), lack of concentration, pounding heart, excessive and random sweating, frequent headaches and an overall uninterested and ambivalent nature are all indicators that the child is under some sort of stress related disorder that could eventually turn into social anxiety disorder when he or she goes into college.
As parents, guardians, educators and counselors, we have a social responsibility to our future generation to have the maturity to detect these early warning signals and take corrective action.
Performing a social anxiety disorder self test on the child from time to time can provide valuable insight on the status of the problem and get a chance to take action early on in life.
Every teenager has immense potential to make our world a better place, when channeled in the right direction.
As adults we need to help our children paint a roadmap that they will enjoy following throughout their childhood and college years, so that they can realize their dreams and live fuller lives.
When left untreated social anxiety disorders could lead to depression, frustration an even get the person addicted to nervous system inhibitors such as alcohol and recreational drugs, which often leads the person to withdraw himself or herself from public and social life.
Overcoming Social Anxiety Disorders Cognitive behavior therapy is widely prescribed by psychotherapists all over the world and to the common person that is quite a mouthful.
At the heart of this therapy is the core goal to instill self-confidence in the mind of the patient to such a level that he or she can overcome the disorder and start a new chapter in life.
Instead of focusing on negative aspects of the patient's life, the therapy focuses on the more positive aspects and requires the patient to draw the power of optimism to overcome the social anxiety disorder.
It is important to understand that nobody is perfect and everyone has strengths and weaknesses.
SAD suffers place a greater emphasis on the weaknesses rather than strengths and the primary goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to make the patient believe in his or her own abilities and make that so special that gradually starts to instill the much needed self-confidence.
A surprisingly large number of SAD teenagers have reported that they were seldom congratulated or encouraged during their childhood years by their guardians who were too negative minded themselves to even bother pepping up their child.
When such patients are made to realize that they are also special in their own way and have traits that others don't, it works wonders for the battered mind.
"I'm in my 'X' year of college and I don't know what I want to do with my life.
" "I'm barely passing the exams and I'm a social mess.
" "I can't talk to people, I feel like the little confidence I once had is now completely gone.
" "My soul and my personality seem missing from my life.
" "I need help and I want help I just don't know where to get help from.
" "My college has shy students.
But the moderators always try to steer you towards self-deception, "tricking" yourself into thinking "positive".
I just found that laughable as a concept.
" Do these comments raise concern in your mind about our youth? It alarmed me as I read these posts in the forums.
Our youth are suffering from the after-effects of stress and we're not paying enough attention to their silent cries for help.
That is even more disconcerting to me and I feel that we need to take action as parents, guardians, counselors and coaches to stop the atrophy of the future of the human race before it is too late.
Reasons for Social Anxiety Disorders in Teenagers Social anxiety disorders are not the result of just one or two stressful days.
It could be the net effect of years of stress imposed knowingly or unknowingly on the minds of our youth, possibly since early childhood.
The environment that the person has grown up in often plays a big factor for shaping the character.
Children growing up in families having domestic turmoil or living in rough neighborhoods or peer pressure at school often grow up with inferiority complexes and lack of self-confidence.
Moreover some parents who want to see an image of their own continue on to the next generation often are guilty of literally imposing a certain line of study or career on their child, who may not have the proper acumen or basic inclination to follow that area of specialization.
Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorders Warning signs may be almost subliminal in the toddler and early school years, but they tend to become increasingly evident as the child moves through the schooling system.
Symptoms such as falling grades, avoiding social gatherings, spending more time at home rather than out in activities with kids of the same age group, preference to stay behind closed doors, a generally quiet and unusually introvert nature, random blank stares (as if drifting away), lack of concentration, pounding heart, excessive and random sweating, frequent headaches and an overall uninterested and ambivalent nature are all indicators that the child is under some sort of stress related disorder that could eventually turn into social anxiety disorder when he or she goes into college.
As parents, guardians, educators and counselors, we have a social responsibility to our future generation to have the maturity to detect these early warning signals and take corrective action.
Performing a social anxiety disorder self test on the child from time to time can provide valuable insight on the status of the problem and get a chance to take action early on in life.
Every teenager has immense potential to make our world a better place, when channeled in the right direction.
As adults we need to help our children paint a roadmap that they will enjoy following throughout their childhood and college years, so that they can realize their dreams and live fuller lives.
When left untreated social anxiety disorders could lead to depression, frustration an even get the person addicted to nervous system inhibitors such as alcohol and recreational drugs, which often leads the person to withdraw himself or herself from public and social life.
Overcoming Social Anxiety Disorders Cognitive behavior therapy is widely prescribed by psychotherapists all over the world and to the common person that is quite a mouthful.
At the heart of this therapy is the core goal to instill self-confidence in the mind of the patient to such a level that he or she can overcome the disorder and start a new chapter in life.
Instead of focusing on negative aspects of the patient's life, the therapy focuses on the more positive aspects and requires the patient to draw the power of optimism to overcome the social anxiety disorder.
It is important to understand that nobody is perfect and everyone has strengths and weaknesses.
SAD suffers place a greater emphasis on the weaknesses rather than strengths and the primary goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to make the patient believe in his or her own abilities and make that so special that gradually starts to instill the much needed self-confidence.
A surprisingly large number of SAD teenagers have reported that they were seldom congratulated or encouraged during their childhood years by their guardians who were too negative minded themselves to even bother pepping up their child.
When such patients are made to realize that they are also special in their own way and have traits that others don't, it works wonders for the battered mind.
Source...