An anxiety disorder is the most common of all mental illnesses and they effect, according to Elements Behavioral Health, 25% or more of all teenagers in America. Whether it be that they are stressed about an upcoming project, friends, or even family, different things can lead to or cause stress among high school students.
Anxiety disorders can run in your family so if your parents were to have an anxiety disorder, you are a lot more likely to develop one.

“Stressful or traumatic events such as death of a loved one can cause the development of an anxiety disorder. But, not everyone with an anxiety disorder has faced a traumatic event, and not everyone who has faced a traumatic event develops an anxiety disorder,” states the Everyday Health website.

“I first started feeling my anxiety really bad after my grandma passed away,” Said Sophomore, Valerie Wells. “It caused me to have really bad insomnia which lead to me having anxiety attacks whenever I’m in big groups of people, or when I’m stressed, or over thinking something that happened.”

Both depression and anxiety have many things in common, but are not the same thing. It is not uncommon for someone who has anxiety to also have symptoms of depression, but that does not mean that if you have one you also have the other. Many other disorders can be associated with an anxiety disorder such as OCD and perfectionism.
Students who have an anxiety disorder or something associated with one may struggle with many things, especially school.

“I never really thought much about how my anxiety affects me, but as I have moved up from elementary it has started to stick out more and more,” said Isaiah Rix, a Sophomore at Cottonwood High. “Whenever I have an anxiety attack I just get really nervous and it’s extremely hard for me to focus or even talk to anybody.”

Students with especially bad anxiety may not be able to do their work in class because they are really stressed or because they are uncomfortable being around so many people. Even things that seem simple to everyone else, such as school dances or social events, could be very hard for someone who has anxiety.

Rix said, “Since there are so many social activities throughout Jr. High and High School, I realized I wasn’t just a shy kid, I had more of an anxiety disorder.” Not necessarily all people who are shy have anxiety, but likely are grouped together, especially at a young age. Many younger kids are just shy and grow out of it, but some don’t.”
Anxiety varies from person to person, depending on severity and the way they deal with it. People don’t all have the same sources as everyone else, so they may have a different way of coping with it or helping reduce the severity.

“To help my anxiety not get too bad, whenever I know I am stressed about something I try to make myself stay away from things that I know will cause anxiety, like big groups of people and wait until I am not as stressed.” Rix also said, “Just trying to calm down and think about where I am, what I am doing, and why I am there, so just finding my place really can help with feeling anxious and helps me calm down.”

Wells said, “Whenever I start to have an anxiety attack, talking to friends and family help me to calm down and not be so worried”

Everyone has their own way to solve their issues, some ways work for some people and not for others.