Supporting Our Valued Adolescents: A place to learn, share your strength, be positive, and grow.
As someone with anxiety, I have learned, and maybe you have too, the tool to help you when you are feeling a panic attack. It is to think of five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can touch, two you can smell, (and one maybe taste). This act of bringing yourself to the present moment can be classified as grounding oneself. While very useful, I find that this is sometimes not enough.
Recently, I have been having fewer and fewer panic attacks. While my anxiety is situational, my situation has not drastically improved in the last few weeks, I’ve just been learning how to prevent the panic attacks better.
I never had an outlet for me to calm down my negative energy, rage, frustration, or even confusion over the years. Although, one day I came across something I used to joke about – adult coloring books. Yes, these trendy, yet almost elementary coloring books I used to mock actually saved me in many dark times.
If you are like me and have emotional dysregulation, then you know that some days you are going to be better than others. There are days when out of the blue, I decide to rearrange my room, and some where I hardly want to get out of bed.
Experiencing a historical event is no doubt affecting everyone, but the effect it has on youths and adolescents are significantly stronger.
As we all are going through a situation of a mandated stay-at-home, we find ourselves not being able to go hang out with our friends.
There are tons of resources online addressing the mental health effects that are resulting because of the constant COVID news, self-isolation, and the uncertainty about when this will all be over. And that’s a good thing! It can also feel overwhelming to be told how we should be coping and told that feeling vulnerable to depressive and anxious episodes is almost inevitable.
I know we are all going through a similar experience right now. Boredom. Stress. Anxiety. Confusion and fear. Probably infinite amounts of feelings. If there is one thing I have realized during this quarantine, it is that you never know how you will react to things until they have happened.
If you attend therapy or have delved into any sort of mindfulness practice, you may have heard of something called a body scan. If not, it’s exactly what it sounds like (though probably a little less medically intensive).
Last night, my roommate stood in the doorway of my room and asked for my advice. It was her birthday, and on the heels of a recent breakup of her long-term relationship, she was struggling. Her ex had not reached out and she wanted to text him.
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