Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and everyday living. It is hardwired into our brain and is our bodies’ normal response to “fight or flight”, which prepares us to act in the event of danger. It also prepares us to act in uncertain situations, trouble, or feeling unprepared. It is normal to feel certain anxiousness when these situations arise. However, when everyday life events cause a person to become increasingly anxious or have panic attacks, which interfere with daily living, a person may have an anxiety disorder (Active Minds, 2015). Anxiety disorders are the most common of all mental illnesses and affect 25 percent of all teens and 30 percent of all teen girls (Elements Behavioral Health). Research indicates that over the last 50-70 years the rates of anxiety among teenagers and young adults in America have been steadily increasing (Bass, 2015). This article has information on the rise in teen anxiety, statistics, and the possible causes for the rise in anxiety.

Teens Now and Then
It appears in nearly every research article read that teens today are experiencing greater anxiety than the teens of 20, 30, 40 years ago. In fact, rates of anxiety and depression among young adults were far lower even during the Great Depression, during WWII, the Cold War, and the 60’s and 70’s than they are for teens today (Bass, 2015). The results are almost startling and alarming. Some statistics find that five to eight times as many high school and college students meet the criteria for anxiety disorders today, than the students of 50 years ago (Bass, 2015). When testing college students today eighty five percent of them fell above the mental illness score than the students of the 1930’s and 1940’s (Bass, 2015). “Many of us are worried that the number of young people today experiencing mental health problems is on the increase. As a society, we need to be saying this is a crisis” said Dr. Jean Clinton, a child psychiatrist a McMaster University (Chai & Vuchnich, 2013).
Males and Females
The rates for anxiety among females are even higher than that of males. Girls are nearly doubling the numbers, in terms of anxiety disorders and worries. Is this because we teach our girls to “express their feelings”? Or is it because teenage girls’ have a strong dependence on social factors and friends and when/if these fail their risk of anxiety and depression increase? The statistics aren’t as clear on this issue.
The Possible Causes
What is it that is causing these alarming increases in anxiety for students today? What has changed in our society that we are not making progress but it appears we are going backwards?
There are several issues that may be causing the increasing anxiety in youth and young adults today; here is a list that we will discuss further:
• Teens are more likely to be educated longer
• Youth labor market has decreased
• Teens feel isolated, misconstrued, and a loss of self control
• Sense of entitlement, self absorbed, and narcissistic
• A change in home values over the years
• A drastic increase in the divorce rate
• Social interactions, bullying, social media, brain injuries (concussions), learning disabilities, and family history of anxiety.
• Increased pressure to perform well in school, clubs, and activities because of the cost of college.
• An increase in materialism is decreasing personal relationships with friends and family.
• Decreasing family time at home.
• A change of parenting in today’s society
Education
Teens and young adults, today, are spending more time in school than kids in the 70’s and 80’s. In today’s generation the teens are more likely to graduate high school and move on to college, which is leading to longer and less structured periods of adolescents (Bright, 2012). With more and more students moving on to post secondary education the need to perform well in high school is even greater. The demands and requirements of college acceptances are requiring students to over load their schedules with advanced classes, clubs, activities, and athletics. Performing well increases the students’ chances of scholarships and with the increasing cost of college each student feels the pressure to be better than the next. All of these factors increase the students risk for anxiety.
Family Life
Today families of teens with anxiety are also facing another issue; divorce. The divorce rate in the United States has doubled since the 70’s and 80’s. In (Bright, 2012) it states that “around 20 per cent of all children will experience divorce by the age of 16, compared to around 10 per cent in the mid 1970’s.” The change in family structure causes an increase in anxiety in the teens.
One study states that “parents and teenagers are choosing to spend more time together than in the 1980’s, and today’s parents are more likely to know where there teen is and what they are doing” (Bright, 2012). However, another study found that families are spending less quality time together. Dinner time with the family, sharing conversation, and spending quality time together is not happening as often as it used to (Chai & Vuchnich, 2013). Families are spending more time in the car going to classes, clubs, and sports. The decrease in time spent connecting with the children, leads to more stress for both the teens and parents. Teens feel the ripple effect of the stress of their parents’. The second study seems to correlate more with the theory that an increase in teen’s activities, schooling, and clubs increase the risk for anxiety.
A change in parenting style is another cause for increased anxiety in teens. Parents’ are “bubble-wrapping” or overprotecting their children, creating teens and young adults, who do not know how to then deal with normal life stressors (Chai & Vuchnich, 2013). Dr. Michael Unger states “I’m not sure that we’re producing the kind of kids that have the resilience to overcome the stressors that they’re going to encounter when the hit post-secondary education, where they just aren’t always up for the task.” Society and parents are also giving youth with a sense of entitlement an “I can do anything” attitude (Elements Behavioral Health). For example; Johnny goes his whole life being told he’s the best basketball player ever; all the while he’s mediocre at best. Johnny works hard but fails to make it to college basketball, this failure results in extreme anxiety and depression.
Behavioral Changes
Teens, over the years, are describing themselves in different terms. Research was conducted over a many years, from 1938 to 2007. The research looked at over 60,000 surveys from teens and young adults on self reported emotions and symptoms. Over the years the researchers noticed that the teens because to change the way they describe themselves. The most recent years the students described their feelings as isolation, being misunderstood, narcissistic, worry, sadness, low self-control, sensitivity, and general dissatisfaction (Elements Behavioral Health). Why are the students feeling this way? The largest issue was a feeling of loss of control or control outside of their circumstances; another was materialism and extrinsic goals. In prior studies the students had felt their goals were more intrinsic and were controlled by themselves (Bass, 2015). This type of thinking (extrinsic and materialism) is decreasing young adults’ relationships with friends and families leading them to feel isolated, lonely, and misunderstood.
Social Media
Using social may increase and intensify students and young adults’ anxiety. Using it requires students to multi-task, and with an already packed schedule, the time restraints cause anxiety levels to increase. Social media sites also create a fake world if you are looking from the outside in. Psychologist Lori Andrews explains “It keeps the teens/young adults thinking that they’re left out, their life isn’t the same. Facebook is an image like watching a romantic fantasy: People only put the very best thing that happens at the moment. It just sets up the pressure of anxiety more than it does benefit.” Students with social anxiety may prefer to only connect with others on social media to try and compensate. However, this may make them less comfortable with real-life situations and prevent the students from peaking academically and socially (Bennett, 2014).
What can we do?
In each study the conclusion remains the same, watch, listen, and be available emotionally and physically. Watch for signs of increasing anxiety in teens and young adults. Listen to what they are saying and how they are saying it. Youth need to feel safe, valued, and that they have direction in their lives (Chai & Vuchnich, 2013). Spend daily, quality, time with these teens and teach them tools to feel empowered instead of hopeless. Spend time as a family, stressing the importance of relationships with family and friends. Teach them to help others and their communities; this gives them a sense of purpose. Parents need to allow their children to take safe risks, monitor their schedules, and don’t allow them to become over burdened with school and activities. Communication is the key with young adults, they want to be heard and understood without judgment. The stressors these teens face today surpass a lot of stressors previous generations have faced, communicate an understanding of their challenges. Yes college is important, school is important, being involved is important, giving it your best is important, but the caring for their mental health is of utmost importance. Allow them to find the balance they need with, perhaps, a little gentle guidance along the way.
In conclusion, each study was right along the same lines. Each agreed that students are facing more demands, social interactions are changing, family dynamics are changing, and the way they view themselves is changing. The one thing I noticed the studies didn’t mention were the number of teens that reported their anxiety. Is anxiety in teens increasing because more students are reporting their symptoms now than they were 30-40 years ago? Perhaps the students feel more comfortable speaking of their symptoms because we are discussing mental illness more now than we did in years past. Either way, our first priority is teaching these young adults how to cope with the increased stressors of life.
Works Cited

Active Minds. (2015). Normal Anxiety or an anxiety Disorder? Retrieved October 25, 2015, from Active Minds: http://www.activeminds.org/component/content/article/512-nsod-difference-between-normal-anxiety-and-an-anxiety-disorder?tmpl=component&print=1&page=
Bass, E. P. (2015, August 19). The Rise of Anxiety in Teens: How did we get here? Retrieved October 25, 2015, from Turn Around Anxiety: https://www.turnaroundanxiety.com/?s=the+rise+of+anxiety+in+teens%3A+how+did+we+get+here%3F
Bennett, M. (2014, May 12). Social Media Linked to student anxiety. Retrieved October 23, 2015, from Columbia Chronicle: http://www.columbiachronicle.com/health_and_tech/article_aa2daa9a-d7e4-11e3-9286-001a4bcf6878.html
Bright, F. (2012, March 14). Increased levels of anxiety and depression as teenage experience changes over time. Retrieved October 25, 2015, from Nuffield Foundation: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/print/3508
Chai, C., & Vuchnich, A. (2013, May 8). Young Minds: Stress, anxiety plaguing Canadian youth. Retrieved October 24, 2015, from Global News: http://globalnews.ca/news/530141/young-minds-stress-anxiety-plaguing-canadian-youth/
Elements Behavioral Health. (n.d.). Teens are feeling more anxious than ever. Retrieved October 24, 2015, from Elements Behavioral Health: http://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/featured/teenagers-are-feeling-more-anxious-than-ever/
Koxlowski, E. (2014, March 25). Teenagers with Anxiety and Depression: There's Hope -- Big Hope. Retrieved October 24, 2015, from Huffington Postg: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eden-kozlowski/young-people-with-anxiety_b_4891929.html