Anxiety. A common illness, many young adolescence hide from the world as they are embarrassed or feel they can't help it having anxiety. In my writing, I want to let younger students who have yet to become high schoolers know that anxiety is a thing and should be taken seriously. My writing will include thinking and its impacts on the brain, analyzing the internet’s coping styles to my personal methods, and how outside factors can increase teen anxiety.

Positive and negative thinking affects levels of anxiety substantially. It has been proven that different variants of cognitive processing can affect levels of anxiety and how individuals self-reflect upon themselves. Beddington remarked,  “The impact of anxiety on cognitive function is a major contributing factor to these costs; anxiety disorders can promote a crippling focus upon negative life events and make concentration difficult, which can lead to problems in both social and work environments”(Beddington et al., 2008). I can relate to Beddington in the ways that when I think in a negative manner, the effects of this cause an increase in my anxiety. Where Beddington writes on how anxiety affects social environments, I can strongly agree with it as at school, when I think people are talking about me I tend to shut down and fall into a depressive and quiet state of mind. The use of the word “crippling” is a great word to describe how I and many other individuals with anxiety feel. Studies have proven that positive thinking can decrease anxiety spikes and benefit a person's mental health. Shokrpour clearly illustrates how “Positive thinking skills training increases the ability to manage stress and regulates emotions by increasing self-awareness, reduces anxiety, and increases the people's ability to understand adaptation, through the training of these skills; they are able to understand the connection between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors,”(Shokrpour 2021). I struggle with thinking positively but when I have, I can strongly agree with Shokrpour as when I do think in a positive manner about situations, I tend to retain my calmness and formulate well-thought solutions. Me being about to retain my composure allows me to reflect on my actions more thoroughly, allowing a better grasp and control over my body. I strongly agree that anxiety levels can be affected majorly by thinking and whether it's positive or negative.

As anxiety has skyrocketed, the internet has come up with coping styles to overcome anxiety. As someone who suffers from anxiety, I will analyze the most researched ways to overcome anxiety. The various authors, Melnyk-Kelly-Lusk, conducted a study on teen anxiety and reported, “significant decreases in depression and anxiety on the Beck Youth Inventory as well as increases in personal beliefs about managing negative emotions. Evaluations indicated that the group COPE intervention was a positive experience for the teens,”(Melnyk/Kelly/Lusk 2014). I have learned, when in the midst of an anxiety attack that for me, talking with others especially those who are suffering from anxiety as well, makes it easier to calm down and figure out solutions to why I am feeling the way I may be. The feeling I and many experiences that they don't have anybody to talk to is one of the worst side effects of anxiety, but knowing you have people there for you to talk through similar problems is very beneficial. Although group coping styles is effective, teens should have ways to deal with anxiety on their own. Reachout Australia developed methods such as, “Breathing exercises, light exercise, writing down worries, and meditation and mindfulness are all individual coping styles.”(Reachout Australia 2023). As someone who has tried all the methods, I personally can say that these methods work well. Slow, deep breathing such as meditation allows the mind to quickly calm down and allows you to regain control over your feelings. Exercise is by far my favorite as it allows my mind to set goals and focus away from the problem till I am better suited to solve it. I personally don’t find writing down my worries as it keeps me thinking about the “what if” of the worries rather than just avoiding them. There are many coping styles that can be used depending on the situation, but personally, exercising and group coping are best suited for me.

Outside factors can result in increasing levels of teenage anxiety, especially social media. Social media, as more adolescence began to use it, has strongly indicated an uprising in stress for social media consumers. Expert Shafer describes the conflicts of social media, “Many experts have described a rise in sleeplessness, loneliness, worry, and dependence among teenagers — a rise that coincides with the release of the first iPhone 10 years ago.”(Shafer 2017). I have noticed that social media is a problem as it strengthens FOMO. The fear of missing out is something that has affected me, strictly from social media, as I can see what people are doing through their posts. However, teens like me continue to go back as it is an addiction because we adolescents always feel the urge to know everyone's business. This fuels loneliness as it creates the idea, at least in my opinion, that everyone is living their best life while they're at home. As we are becoming more technologically advanced, much of adolescence have been using social media as a way to communicate. This has significantly resulted in an increase in anxiety in teens. Pew Research, a well-known organization, conducted statistics that, “Roughly three-in-ten say the same about social media leading their teen to feel pressure to act a certain way (32%), be harassed or bullied (29%), experience problems with anxiety or depression (28%) or experience lower self-esteem (27%).”(Watnick 2022). Social media has caused me to feel I need to act a certain way to “fit in” with my peers. These standards make me feel obligated to lose my true identity and act as someone I am not. This building of pressure can increase anxiety as I and many others feel that they have not met these standards portrayed by society. Social media has changed the way teens function as they limit social interaction and create standards for individuals which all together, increase levels of anxiety.

As anxiety has proven to be harmful, especially for our youth, we must take these mental illnesses seriously. As I have struggled with anxiety, I can personally relate to this writing as this is how it makes me feel. Thinking, coping styles, and how outside factors affect anxiety are the most important points I feel about anxiety.

Works Cited

---. “The Impact of Anxiety upon Cognition: Perspectives from Human Threat of Shock Studies.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 7, no. 203, 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3656338/, doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00203.

Shokrpour, Nasrin, et al. “Effect of Positive Thinking Training on Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and Quality of Life among Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.” Journal of Education and Health Promotion, vol. 10, 2021, p. 225, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8318152/, doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_1120_20.

Mazurek Melnyk, Bernadette, et al. “Outcomes and Feasibility of a Manualized Cognitive-Behavioral Skills Building Intervention: Group COPE for Depressed and Anxious Adolescents in School Settings.” Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, vol. 27, no. 1, 16 Oct. 2013, pp. 3–13, doi.org/10.1111/jcap.12058. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.

“Coping Skills for Anxiety - ReachOut Parents.” Reachout.com, 19 Apr. 2016, parents.au.reachout.com/common-concerns/mental-health/things-to-try-anxiety/coping-skills-for-anxiety.

Shafer, Leah. “Social Media and Teen Anxiety.” Harvard Graduate School of Education, President and Fellows of Harvard College, 15 Dec. 2017, www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/17/12/social-media-and-teen-anxiety.

Gelles-Watnick, Risa. “Explicit Content, Time-Wasting Are Key Social Media Worries for Parents of U.S. Teens.” Pew Research Center, 15 Dec. 2022, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/12/15/explicit-content-time-wasting-are-key-social-media-worries-for-parents-of-u-s-teens/#:~:text=Roughly%20three%2Din%2Dten%20say.