A Swedish Proverb states, “Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.” Anxiety is a disorder common for teenagers in high school and is often overlooked. Lauren Fink, a Junior, expressed her opinion that she thinks “The exams and finals cause the most anxiety in high school. Especially when they are on the same day”. Countless times teachers do not understand that other classes are giving homework the same day, therefore some teachers are oblivious when students explain that school causes them the most stress. With the amount of stress from homework and social life ,while balancing extracurricular activities, it is easy for anxiety to be known as just a form of stress. But, anxiety goes deep in the bones of a person and can turn into a slippery slope. According to an article written by Michael Rosenthal, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Washington, “When we get anxious, blood flows away from the parts of the brain that help us think creatively, evaluate effectively, and make sound decisions. We can find ourselves making hasty concessions, disadvantageous agreements, and premature exits”. This causes many anxiety disorders to follow with drugs, anorexia, bulimia, and drinking. With stress being a censor caused emotion that lasts only for a short period of time, stress is not anxiety. Anxiety is stress that continues to trouble the person even when that scenario is gone. This causes distress to linger on the victim’s shoulders without getting treated or even acknowledged. Panicking can cause performance issues in school and extracurricular activities. With this, there are many treatment options, from being involved in hobbies, finding someone to talk to, and receiving medicine to control the anxiety and depression.

Imagine, last point of the game, teams are tied, the crowds eyes are fixed on you, palms sweaty, stomach tingling… you go for that shot or goal or serve or touchdown then BAM, you missed. This is just a snapshot of what anxiety can look like during sports.  The after-math is horrible when you know you could have changed the outcome of the game. But, sports are not always about anxiety as some may think. Although anxiety causes a lack in performance, there is a bright side to sports. The practices, teammates, dinners, winning games, are all stress relievers too. Being focused in the game gives someone who has anxiety  time to be with themselves and put the world to the side. While many people feel alone, this may give someone else a spotlight. Now, this is only one out of several hobbies that can take people’s mind off of problems rather than the alternative choices – like drugs. A study from the teen Rehab Center found out ¨Marijuana and and alcohol are most common substances used by anxious teens¨. With teens not getting the help they need, 80 percent of them suffering with anxiety turn to drugs and alcohol as a way to medicate. According to figure B from An Anxiety, Drugs, and High School article, ¨forty-four point nine percent of high school students reported using alcohol in the last 30 days, with twenty eight point eight percent of them reporting binge drinking¨. On the other hand, being involved in hobbies that interest you would be a more positive way to cope with anxiety. With all of these opportunities, it allows someone to take their mind off of the world and enter an opposite reality. Although this is a route some people take to escape, it is hard to come back to reality and realize that the anxiety is still there. It is then when you figure out this is only temporary and anxiety will win unless you choose to face it head on.

Everyone has friends and family, but the question is, are they trustworthy? This question is often unanswered, because many times situations occur in a person’s life which cause them long-term trust issues. It is not that the person does not want to communicate their feelings, it is because they feel as if they’re invisible.  In this case, a good solution would be to discuss the topic vaguely and not to talk in the first person during your conversation to see how the topic is  handled. The social media world will say the more friends the better off you’re “liked”. Mrs Stover, a counselor at Melissa High School, said that “students give social media a great part of their life. When we see what other people post is better than us we begin to feel anxious and feel like we are not good enough”. In figure A, this demonstrates how anxiety causes the most problems in college students. If this problem is not solved in high school, this will increase the likelihood of anxiety to take longer to control. This affects our social life, because we want to meet high expectations that are not realistic. Having one or two solid friends is all a person needs to feel loved and cherished. With this being said, anxiety won’t stop as soon as a person finds someone to talk to. It will take time, but with that time a person can grow and learn to cope with their anxiety and have a friend by their side to encourage them.

Praying to a higher power soothes people during hard times in their life. Jane Redmont, a writer and spiritual director, believes in God and relies on Him to pick her up in the hardest times of her life. When she was asked about praying she explained how she meditates and prays in different ways to release stress. Everything changed when she began to worry about a book she was writing then got burned out. She kept hope in God and started to pray again and read the bible. Redmont said reading Hebrews, a book in the old testament, “gave [her] words–ancient words written by people who had the wisdom of experience, prayed aloud by generations of my ancestors in faith, both Jewish and Christian”. A student athlete, Kaedric Cobbs. said “I pray to relax”. This shows different scenarios where praying and meditating is a form of relief.  Praying is a form of discussion with a higher power to give thanks or to simply have a conversation. Redmont was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder but remained to stay in God’s word and she said one day “It all came together: the knowledge that I was safe, that I was good enough and did not need to “try harder,” that I would be all right and that God–more deeply than I had known or let myself believe–loved me; that it was all there, there for me, without money, without price, in the words of Second Isaiah”.

There are many different ways to support anxiety and steps to overcome social anxiety. Find the hobby, friend, support person, higher power or distraction that can help you through these difficult times.