Some teenagers can find themselves so anxious about their academic performance that is begins to affect their mood and overall functioning. Related issues can include perfectionism, excessive worry and rumination, feeling on edge, procrastination, and sometimes avoiding submitting school work. While this can be thought of as merely part of being a “high achiever”, for some adolescents striving to achieve and the pressure to do things perfectly causes significant anxiety and stress.

Worrying persistently and excessively can be debilitating and exhausting! Excessive worry, or Generalised Anxiety Disorder, is a form of anxiety where there is a tendency to ruminate or worry excessively about bad events or negative outcomes. Common topics adolescents can worry about include: health and safety; the future; social concerns and friendships; being late; appearance; family finances; or academic performance. Other symptoms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder include difficulty with concentration and attention, sleep disturbance, appetite changes, general feeling of irritability and restlessness, finding it hard to relax or wind down and somatic symptoms such as muscle tension, stomachaches or headaches.

While more commonly experienced in younger children, teenagers too can feel fearful about being away from family, or worrying that something bad might happen them or to their loved ones while they are away. Daily expressions of this anxiety can look like excessive questioning, reassurance-seeking, distress when having to be away from home or parents (such as sleep overs, school camps).

Panic attacks can be described as the sudden onset of intense fear and discomfort. People with Panic disorder experience recurrent and unexpected episodes of intense fear which involve unpleasant physical symptoms. These symptoms can include shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, feeling nauseous, feeling faint or dizzy, heart palpitations, sweating and shaking. These symptoms can then be misinterpreted and lead to other worries including fear of losing control, fear of having a heart attack or fear of going “crazy”. Worrying about having further panic attacks and not being able to escape can lead to avoidance of certain places, situations or environments such as crowded places, public transport, driving, or some social situations. 

This type of anxiety refers to two components. One component of OCD is the experience of persistent obsessions. Obsessions are recurrent thoughts, images or urges that are intrusive, unwanted and distressing. It is extremely difficult to stop or switch off from these thoughts. For example, thoughts about contamination or harming others. The other component of OCD is the compulsions – repetitive behaviours that are performed in response to obsessions. For example, repeating rituals of washing and cleaning, ordering or checking. Usually people engage in the compulsion in order to reduce anxious feelings or discomfort caused by the obsession, or in order to prevent bad things from happening. Some adolescents experience only the thought component of OCD, while others engage in the ritualistic behaviour as well. Daily life for teenagers suffering from OCD can be a struggle as it causes significant distress and life interference.

Phobias refer to an intense and persistent fear of a situation, place, animal or object. When confronted by the feared situation or object, people with phobias feel frightened, anxious or very uncomfortable. Those who experience phobias often go to great lengths to avoid their fears. Commonly reported fears in adolescence include fear of: blood, needles/injections, heights, small or confined spaces, vomiting, choking, animal or insect phobias.