One of my biggest fears entering college was: am I going to fit in? This was my biggest fear for numerous reasons. I came from a really small school where everyone knows each other and even there I didn’t fit in with everybody. I was wondering if it was going to be the same way in college. I was afraid that I wasn’t going to make any friends. I had a small group of friends in … [Read more...]
10 Reasons to Recover From Your Eating Disorder This Holiday Season
For me, mid-October to early-January is terrifying. Absolutely petrifying. There’s Halloween and Thanksgiving and the winter holidays, and that’s not even counting the pumpkin-spiced-everything and the sudden increase in carb-heavy foods as the weather gets colder. But I’ve spent too many autumns hiding in big sweaters and pretending I’m “just not hungry”. I can’t be the … [Read more...]
The Renovation of a Home
“Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays, 'cause no matter how far away you roam, if you want to be happy in a million ways, for the holidays - you can't beat home, sweet home.” - Carpenters If home doesn’t feel the way that it used to, does this classic line still hold some value and truth? Sometimes going home for the holidays is more stress-inducing than it is … [Read more...]
Being Vulnerable Is The Door To Confidence And Self-Acceptance
There’s that familiar feeling again. The sweaty palms. The butterflies in my stomach. The constant overthinking in my mind. I was always taught to be self-sufficient and have my own. As a result, I consider myself to be a strong and independent woman. So it came as a surprise when asked one day, “why are you troubled waters in the ocean of life?” In the back of my … [Read more...]
Small Goals to Ease Depression
From my own experience, I know that depression and anxiety can be downright tiring. Oftentimes you might just want to stay at home or curled up in bed in order to avoid potentially distressing situations. Your energy and motivation might be low and the day feels utterly hopeless. Because of this, doing anything to make yourself feel better or get some relief from the … [Read more...]
7 Ways to Reduce Your Anxiety by Getting in Touch with Nature and Your Community
Throughout my teenage and adult life, I’ve found nature and working within my community to be a great way to alleviate stress. Exercise can lead to a healthy heart and lessen anxiety due to gaining a higher-level of endorphins, and in the long run, help you feel better about you. Take your friends with or go solo. Some examples of how venturing into the great outdoors may help … [Read more...]
Summer is Here! Get Outside
The sun and the warm weather have finally arrived after the long stints of rain, snow, and just overall dark, dreary days. It is important that you take this time to recharge your body's batteries by getting outside and enjoying the weather. Not only is it fun to be outside in this weather, it is actually biologically important to keep hormones levels in check. Most people … [Read more...]
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, How Will You Celebrate?
Mental health awareness month is a big month for us at Anxiety In Teens. So many stories, advocacy, laughing and crying, but most of all - GIFs! Here are just a few ways we like to celebrate this month of reducing stigma and spreading awareness about mental health issues. Tell Our Stories So Others Can Be Heard Baking Some Courage Cupcakes for a Friend Read … [Read more...]
Listen, Sharing & Comparing: Advice for Parents on How to Help Their Teens with a Mental Health Disorder
This week I want to give some guidance to parents whose children are dealing with mental health problems, how to approach them and help them cope. I think it is interesting to talk about it from my point of view, because the depression and eating disorders that I’ve had my family isn’t really aware of even now, since I never managed to tell them the truth. I was always too … [Read more...]
Supporting My Sister with Anxiety: What I’ve Learned
Personally, I have conflicting feelings about labelling mental health conditions. On the one hand, mental health conditions are health conditions - they have signs and symptoms, medications, and health risks. How can you expect to treat a health condition if it remains a nameless entity? What’s more, labelling it can offer a sense of closure and community - finally, you are … [Read more...]
Your Scars Don’t Define You: One Parent’s Story of Supporting Their Teen with Self-Injury
As we battled these last weeks through a particularly rough patch, I found myself thinking that it was time for me to revisit therapy again. Sometimes the skills fade or get sloppy, sometimes I forget to take care of myself, sometimes I just crave an outsider’s voice on our challenges. My family often struggles during the transition time from school to summer and summer to … [Read more...]
The Two Things Parents Can Do For Teens Right Now
This post is for the parents reading this who have a child dealing with a mental health issue and don’t know what to do. For parents, as your child grows up, you want your child to be happy and live a carefree, fulfilling life. But what do you do when your child is facing an eating disorder, anxiety, depression, or any other mental health issue? My parents were faced with this … [Read more...]
Self-Care for Parents?
Parents, raising teenager can be stressful. Many parents who are raising a teenager with a mental health issue forget to set aside some time for yourselves. Some parents reading this might be thinking that setting aside time for yourself isn’t really an option or that it’s unnecessary, however taking care of yourselves will allow you to help your teen even better. It is also … [Read more...]
Managing Medications: What’s a Parent To Do?
It’s been a few weeks, or months, or years, since your teenager began treatment with an SSRI, and she can’t--or won’t—describe what difference she senses, if any. She still feels debilitating anxiety at times, or has tough days when obsessive thoughts dog her. Yet you believe she’s better. Isn’t she? How does a parent evaluate from the outside looking in? This post … [Read more...]
Top 6 Black Mental Health Podcasts
For Black History Month, we're excited to highlight six kickass, awesome, top six mental health podcasts by women and men of color. Some of these podcasts are hosted by black therapists and completely dedicated to the topic of minority mental health, others are more general in nature with some really good mental health episodes. Read on, listen, explore and … [Read more...]