Anxiety is not something that we can deal with on our own. We all need love and support in order to make it through any difficult time in our lives. Yet it seems that sometimes the closest people to us are the hardest ones to talk about our feelings with. It can take a lot of guts to tell a loved one that perhaps their perspective on your feelings doesn’t exactly fit with yours.
The best way to go about expressing your feelings should be without using them. Your parent or guardian might have no knowledge as to what an anxiety disorder or even depression looks like, so they may try to write it off as something else. Don’t take this personally—it’s just as hard for them to understand as it probably was for you. Talking it out without letting your self get angry or frustrated can be difficult. When considering this topic of facing your parents with a difficult topic, I was reminded of one of my newest favorite movies, Brave.
Brave is the newest movie out by Disney about a princess who is having some difficulty seeing eye to eye with her mother’s ever-so-queen-like ways. When push came to shove, the princess ended up overreacting to her mother’s opinion and that is where the story begins to spin out of control. If one thing was made clear through the eyes of the princess, it’s that even when the issues you are facing are difficult and you just want someone to see things the way you do, listening and hearing out the other side can make things much easier for both of you.
I know it may seem wacky to take something as serious as a discussion on mental health and compare it to a Disney movie, but I really think that the easiest way of getting through a hard conversation is to see things through the other person’s eyes, just like the Brave princess. Talking to parents is key when trying to tackle a problem like anxiety, and we need all the help we can get- especially when the parents themselves might need more information on a topic that could be foreign to them. If this is the case, come prepared. Have some information handy that can be used to further explain an anxiety disorder (i.e. what it is, what the effects are, some of the ways it can be combatted etc.) in order to give some background, as well as to let your parents know that you are going through something tough that can be helped. Parents and guardians are necessary in getting you help, and if it’s not easy that is totally normal. There are other resources as well that can help you even if your parents don’t totally understand. The important thing is to talk (and listen) to them and make sure that they know what you’re going through and how it can help.
One of the best things to have in a hard time is a support system. Once you find it, you’ll have the strength to get through anything life throws at you. Asking for help isn’t easy, but when you’re brave enough to ask for it, it can mean the world.
-Anna Tadei, Anxiety In Teens Contributor