9781422273838

Teen Guides to Health & Wellness

Anxiety, Depression, and Mood Disorders Diets, Cleanses, and Fitness Drugs and Alcohol School and Your Health Sexuality and Gender Identity Sleep and Hygiene Smoking and Vaping Social Media and the Internet Suicide and Self-Harm Tattoos, Piercings, and Body Modifications

Teen Guides to Health & Wellness

H.W. Poole

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Copyright © 2023 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-4419-7 Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4222-4420-3 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7383-8 Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress

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CONTENTS Introduction. ...................................................................6 Chapter 1: Stressed Out. .................................................9 Chapter 2: Bummed Out................................................25 Chapter 3: Anxiety Disorders......................................... 39 Chapter 4: Depression and Other Mood Disorders. ........ 57 Chapter 5: What Do I Do Now?. ...................................... 71 Organizations and Hotlines............................................88 Further Reading and Online Resources...........................90 Series Glossary of Key Terms.......................................... 92 Index. ............................................................................94 About the Author / Credits. ............................................96 K E Y I C O N S T O L O O K F O R : Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

Stress, worry, sadness, and even despair are common emotions; they aren’t any fun, but they are deeply human. The ability to experience frustrations and failures but bounce back from them is known as resilience . In the words of the great teacher Jaime Escalante, “Life is not about how many times you fall down. It’s about how many times you get back up.” These days it seems like resilience may be in short supply at many high schools. Anxiety and depression are on the increase among teenagers. According to recent studies, about 30 percent of kids are affected by anxiety and 20 percent by depression at some point before they turn 18. We don’t know exactly why anxiety and depression are on the increase, but there are plenty of theories. Maybe it’s poor parenting. Toxins in the environment may play a role. Perhaps it’s the Internet’s fault. But there’s probably no single culprit. What is more likely is that a combination of factors are working in concert. “Most experts would agree with me that there is more stress today than in previous generations,” says author Therese J. Borchard, adding that “lack of community and family support, less exercise, no casual and unstructured technology-free play, less sunshine and more computer [all] factor into the equation.” On the other hand, maybe teens aren’t actually more stressed out and bummed out than before—maybe they are just more honest about it. All we know for sure is that anxiety and depression are common among teens. That’s the bad news. The good news is there is also more support available than before, and young people are more

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likely to seek out help for mental health issues than previous generations were. Our understanding of mental health issues has come a long way. This book hopes to provide all the basics you need to start down the road toward improved mental health. We will look at anxiety and depression from a several angles, discussing both the regular anxiety and depression that we all face, and also look at what happens when “typical” levels spiral into a mental health disorder. In these pages you’ll find information about what can cause anxiety and depression and what can be done to manage those feelings. You’ll get the basics about anxiety disorders (as well as anxiety-related disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder) and mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder. This book provides practical advice on stress management and bouncing back from depression. Finally, don’t skip the last pages, where you’ll find resources for further reading and numerous hotlines you can call, where experts are waiting to help with specific concerns or questions.

Resilience is the ability to flourish despite the obstacles.

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Public speaking causes anxiety in lots of people.

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND

abstract: something that exists as an idea but not as a concrete thing acute: something that is severe but short term intrusive: something that’s unwanted but keeps showing up hormone: a substance produced in the body that causes tissues to react in particular ways hyperventilating: breathing that is abnormally fast

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Stressed Out

Has this ever happened to you? You walk into school one morning and discover there is a special assembly. The assembly has a guest speaker and, it turns out, that guest speaker is you. You were not expecting this at all. The principal grabs you by the arm and drags you up in front of the audience. Everyone you know is there, waiting for you to speak. But you have no idea what to say. You stand alone, beneath a blinding spotlight, and when you look down, you realize with horror that you aren’t wearing pants. What Is Anxiety? Hopefully, the situation described above hasn’t literally happened to you! But you probably recognize the general theme of that story from a nightmare you’ve had. Maybe the dream involved taking a big test that you hadn’t studied for, getting stuck underwater with no way out, or being laughed at by everyone you know. These are all anxiety dreams. Some people have them frequently, and others just once in a while, but everyone has had a dream like this at some point. That’s

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Chidi: Here's the thing about me. You know the sound a fork makes in the garbage disposal? That's the sound my brain makes. All the time. It's just the constant grinding about things that I'm afraid of . . . things that I want . . . or want to want . . . or want to want to want . . . Eleanor: You're grindin’ in there right now, bud. —The Good Place, Season 2, episode 10

because everyone—no matter how “together” they appear on the outside—feels anxiety sometimes. Anxiety is a close relative of fear. If you were in a car that was careening off a cliff, you would definitely have strong feelings about potentially being injured or even dying—those feelings are fear. If, on the other hand, you have strong feelings about dying during an average drive to the supermarket, that’s anxiety. The feeling of fear is a direct response to a threat; anxiety is a more abstract version of fear. There may be a threat, but it’s an idea in your mind, not something right in front of you.

Teen Guides to Health & Wellness: Anxiety, Depression, and Mood Disorders

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Why Am I Stressed? Let Me Count the Ways . . .

The American Psychological Association (APA) conducts an annual survey called Stress in America , in order to find out more about what’s worrying us. They found that teens and young adults under 25 experience noticeably more stress than older people. For example, 91 percent of younger people reported having experienced some physical or emotional symptom of stress in the previous month, compared to 75 percent of older Americans.

Teens tend to experience more stress than adults, not less.

Stressed Out

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TEEN STRESS SURVEY Subjects of Stress among Teens

School shootings. .............................................. 75% Climate change. ................................................ 58% Separations/deportations of immigrant families......................................... 57% Sexual assault/harassment in news..................... 53% Housing insecurity............................................. 31% Debt................................................................. 33% Getting enough to eat. ....................................... 28% Sexual orientation or gender identity.................. 21%

Source: American Psychological Association, “Stress in America: Generation Z,” October 2018.

Personal situations, such as school and friends, are key causes of stress for teens. Getting into a “good” college and finding a way to pay for it are also top worries. It’s also common for teens to worry a lot about how they are perceived by their friends. But sometimes people are too quick to dismiss young people’s anxiety as “typical teenager stuff.” When the APA asked young people what specifically caused their anxiety, a lot of the topics mentioned were pretty serious. Among the teens surveyed, top anxiety-producers included school shootings, climate change, and deportations of immigrant families. Nearly a third of teens surveyed were stressed about

Teen Guides to Health & Wellness: Anxiety, Depression, and Mood Disorders

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having a place to live or enough to eat—a far cry from cute “teenager stuff” that can be easily waved away. Teens are worried about serious, even life-threatening, problems, both in their own lives and in the world at large. And there are no easy or immediate solutions to any of these problems. If someone is anxious about possibly losing their home, there is no quick fix to make that stress disappear. But what we can do is learn how to manage our anxiety—how to take charge of it, rather than letting anxiety be in charge of us.

School shootings are a common cause of stress among teenagers.

Stressed Out

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Upsides and Downsides It may not feel great, but anxiety is not necessarily a bad thing. Medical studies have noted that, in small doses, anxiety can make people more organized and more effective at their jobs. Athletes and actors alike will tell you that a jolt of anxiety right before a game or show can serve to improve their performance. A small amount of anxiety can make us focused and energized—ready to take on whatever challenge is in front of us. Unfortunately, anxiety has a tendency to grow beyond just “a small amount.” About 40 million American adults cope with anxiety disorders, meaning that the levels of anxiety they experience are high enough to interfere with their daily lives. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety disorders affect about one-quarter of all young people between the ages of 13 and 18. Uncontrolled anxiety can damage your ability to make friends and get an education, and it can even make you physically ill. Whether your anxiety is occasional and mild or constant and severe, it’s important to understand what is happening to you when you feel anxious. Fight or Flight? When we are faced with a threat—any kind of threat, from an oncoming car to an angry dog to trouble with parents— our bodies have what’s called an acute stress response . You probably know it as “fight or flight.” Likewise, if your heart races, you start sweating, or you feel extremely nauseous right before a big test, that’s a type of fight-or-flight response.

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When you perceive a threat, a sort of 911 call is sent to your amygdala, which is the part of your brain that’s in charge of emotions, memories, and—most importantly here—survival instincts. That 911 call results in a hormone called adrenaline (also known as epinephrine) surging throughout the body, causing your breathing and heart rate to increase and your muscles to tense up. For a short time, you are physically stronger than normal, and your brain is more alert as you assess whatever in your environment is making you feel threatened.

The body produces a fight-or-flight response to stress.

Stressed Out

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Find out more about the fight-or-flight response.

It’s not hard to see how this heightened state would have been extremely useful for our ancient ancestors. If a saber-toothed tiger is about to pounce, an acute stress response could mean the difference between staying alive or becoming dinner. Even today, if you are in a truly life threatening situation, the fight-or-flight response can be lifesaving. But too much stress can impair your ability to think clearly at all. The Attack of the Amygdala Most of us don’t experience life-or-death situations very often, if ever. Modern-day fears are often described as symbolic in nature—saber-toothed tigers exist only in our

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