While all of us feel anxious at some point during our lives, many teen girls and assigned female at birth face high levels of anxiety every day. When this is the case, it is can be difficult for parents and friends to know how to help. Here are 5 tips for helping teen girls and assigned female at birth cope with anxiety as stated by 3 NASP members.1
The first of our tips for helping teen girls and assigned female at birth cope with anxiety is helping their develop a social support network. When a teen girl or child assigned female at birth is experiencing anxiety, it is important for their to have healthy, supportive people they can talk with. By talking through their anxiety, they may be able to more easily challenge the errors in their thinking and bring their to a calmer state of mind. When they have a healthy support network encouraging and helping her, they are more likely to turn to them than to unhealthy behaviors when their anxiety becomes overwhelming. At Solstice, we encourage this idea through our therapeutic milieu and focus on relationships. We create a safe place for our students to develop relationships and to learn to use their support network to get through difficult times.
The second of our tips for helping teen girls and assigned female at birth cope with anxiety is encouraging their to regular exercise. It has been found that, for some people, exercise can work as well as medication for reducing anxiety symptoms. Exercise can reduce tension levels, help to stabilize mood and improve sleep and self-esteem.2 At Solstice, our students participate in workouts 5-6 times each week. We have seen many of our girls and assigned female at birth have a reduction in their anxiety symptoms as they participate in these workouts.
The third of our tips for helping teen girls and assigned female at birth cope with anxiety is helping their learn to relax. Taking time away from everyday stress to relax in a way that works for their can help a teen girl or child assigned female at birth cope with anxiety. By taking a walk, reading a book, listening to quiet music, or drawing, a teen can get out of their anxious mind for a few minutes. At Solstice, we teach our students to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness helps our girls and assigned female at birth to be present in the moment, allowing their to be more accepting of the feelings they are having.
The fourth of our tips for helping teen girls and assigned female at birth cope with anxiety is helping their to prepare ahead of time. When a girl or child assigned female at birth is feeling anxious about an upcoming situation, helping their prepare will help reduce the anxiety surrounding it as they feels more confident going into the situation. For example, if a teen is feeling anxious about an upcoming flight, you can help their go over what is going to happen, what problems may arise and how they will handle them, help their put together some coping skills that they can take with her, etc. At Solstice, we teach our girls and assigned female at birth a variety of skills of how to prepare for situations that may increase anxiety.
The last of our tips for helping teen girls and assigned female at birth cope with anxiety is encouraging their to be optimistic. Anxiety often pulls a girl or child assigned female at birth into a negative state of mind, which may lead to lower self-esteem and the use of unhealthy coping skills. By helping their to stay positive and challenge their negative thinking, you can help their to be in a better state of mind to handle their anxiety. Solstice teaches and encourages our students to challenge their negative thoughts whenever they arise. By recognizing thinking errors, are girls and assigned female at birth are able to develop healthier and more optimistic views on anxiety-provoking situations.
For more information about how Solstice helps teen girls and assigned female at birth cope with anxiety, call us at 801-815-8700.
1. Lowe, P., Unruh, S., & Greenwood, S. (2004). Anxiety: Tips for Teens. Retrieved from http://www.nasponline.org/educators/hchsii_anxietytipsteens.pdf
2. Exercise for Stress and Anxiety. Retrieved July 27, 2015, from http://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/managing-anxiety/exercise-stress-and-anxiety
