Life lesson: post pics of your fun, too.
My advice to my kids: Spend way less time on social media and therefore setting yourself up for comparisons. Go be that interesting person with the time you save. 
Yikes, I just re-read my post #54 and it sure seems snotty. 
That was not the intent - I shouldn’t post after 8:00 p.m.
Anyway, I would encourage anyone dealing with GAD to take a moment and look up EMDR therapy. There is plenty of hard data supporting it’s effectiveness. It really does feel very silly the first time you go thru a session. However I can vouch for the approach alleviating the level of distress QUICKLY and giving you the ability to access that calming sense easily. It links ‘what you know to be true’ to that part of your memory and response which you ‘know’ is out of bounds. It allows you to reprocess the event or situation which initially caused you to get stuck in the anxiety. The result is the next time you respond to a situation, which used to be linked to that old ‘wrong’ processing circuitry, it now links to a more appropriate response.
It is used by law enforcement and first responders to deal with PTSD. Anxiety is a form of - or can become - PTSD.
Anxiety sucks. Hang in there…
My sib had panic attacks when young but fortunately outgrew it. My mother could have probably been helped by the resources available today as she is a very anxiety ridden person although not crippling I don’t think. My H is very laid back and I have never been a particularly anxiety ridden person and the kids are all on the normal curve from as laid back as my H to slightly less laid back. I wonder sometimes why this is so much more prevalent these days but I stop and think that in fact as a nation we are over-programmed, connected to our devices whether for work or pleasure almost 24/7 and we are exposed through media instantaneously to every horrible thing happened on the globe so perhaps it is simply that people that are vulnerable are just more impacted by life today. Also people are just not as active as they were in the past - both kids and adults - being outside or doing physical activity really is good “medicine”.
My son had anxiety long before he knew what a cell phone was. There’s anxiety based on social situations or stressful events and then there is anxiety. He starts from anxious and events and environment exacerbate.
I was also going to mention EMDR. It is almost like hypnosis. The therapist generally waves two fingers in front of you and your brain quickly processes parts of life history, and often the focus is trauma or a source of anxiety. Beforehand, you decide on a place or situation that makes you feel safe. After the visioning part, you then imagine yourself in your safe place (like curling up with a dog). It is incredibly potent.
Tapping , also called EFT, also helps.
Finally, I myself use Tai Chi. I don’t have anxiety in my adult years, but the slow meditative movements really help wash away whatever angst I am dealing with in life. I have often wanted to teach teens. I go to an assisted living facility and teach them and they seem to like it. Try it!
ps Just want to mention that migraines are NOT caused by stress or anxiety. Migraines are NOT a psychological problem. They are a neurological problem. Granted, stress can be a trigger, but the person already has the tendency for them.
Long Feature article in NYTimes magazine
https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/magazine/why-are-more-american-teenagers-than-ever-suffering-from-severe-anxiety.amp.html
Edit; reading back posts and see this has been mentioned and discussed
^ And someone started another thread about the NYT article. Hopefully they will merge them.
I finished reading the Times article but then (perhaps foolishly) read the comments which for the most part blame we horrible helicopter parents who buy our kids smart phones, put enormous pressure on them, and do not allow them to play outside and just be kids. The schools, of course, got a lot of blame along with vaccines and other stuff. But for the most part, it is all our fault.
I live in one of those places where kids go to “top” colleges, but still the vast majority of kids are not aiming for the Ivys. My guess would be that 75% of the kids do fine, but are certainly not spending a ridiculous amount of time studying. This myth that every kid in America is aiming for a top college and is burning out in the process is just inaccurate. Most kids go to a local community college or to an in-state college and beyond a very few (CA or VA perhaps), most decent students can get into their flagship or another campus.
It is really hard to know, and the article does not provide a clear answer, as to how much of this is a difference in diagnostic criteria and how much is real. The kids profiled certainly have very severe anxiety. But the surveys that find more kids are anxious - does the anxiety rise to the level of a mental health issue, or is it just a feeling? Do we tend to jump on every issue now and pathologize it in a way that was unheard of when we were kids (for good and for ill). I know parents who would report that their kids (especially perfectionist daughters) were very anxious, but these young woman did not fall apart, did great in college and in professional or graduate schools, have good jobs, have relationships and are happy. Although they may still be anxious about work-life balance.
In my sample size of 3, the most anxious is the oldest who did not have a smart phone until beyond HS. None of our kid had laptops that they could use in their rooms until college age. The least anxious is the youngest who had the most access to social media and a smart phone in HS. I really believe, like so much else, nature is the primary factor or some sort of traumatic event - including bullying (which contributed to my oldest for sure).
I think the point made that having kids face their fears and learn to cope, rather than protecting them from any of it, is a good one. But as a parent (and I am sure as educators), it is very tough to find the balance. Sometimes, kids outgrow their fears. One of mine was afraid of thunderstorms but outgrew it. Would it have made sense to make him stay outside as the thunder rumbled? Not so sure. Nudging kids to try things outside of their comfort zone is generally a good practice, but it didn’t keep my kid from developing anxiety as a young adult.
I thought the article was very interesting but I admit I was kind of shocked that some of the teenagers interviewed for the piece spent 3 months at an inpatient facility that cost so much.
NPR has a story on anxiety right now, in particular school refusal.
^ …as if an admissions lottery would be less stressful. At least the system now offers them some control. His suggestions seem like “anyone can win, Yay!” But oops, we still have a limited number of gold medals.
I wonder if learning to manage stresses from a young age would serve better. There’s rarely “open access” to jobs, certainly not money or other perks, fate deals us all sorts of challenges. Quit with the idea only X and Y are best.
Recently, an older friend commented that, when he was young, boys were told to stuff it, don’t let your emotions rule, that it wasn’t socially acceptable to wear your meltdowns on your sleeve. Maybe something betwen the extremes would help them learn coping skills, balance, perspective, satisfaction. Life skills.
The Chronicle article linked in 71 is an opinion piece with no reference to the statistic that nearly 2/3 of students report “overwhelming anxiety”. That seems like a very high number which made me wonder if it was 2/3 of those that sought help rather than 2/3 of all college students.
An article from the Times on reader’s stories about their own or their kid’s experiences with anxiety.