Works Cited

Visual Source:
YouTube - Anxiety, Panic Attacks, OCD, Stress & Phobias, THE Solution. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 24 May 2010. .

Audio Source:
Kim, Dr. Ben. "How To Overcome Anxiety and Chronic Fear." How To Overcome Anxiety and Chronic Fear. Radio.

Melody08. "Since 12 : I Am a Teen With Anxiety Story & Experience." Experience Project — Personal Stories about Any Life Experience. Web. 11 June 2010. .

Aimee. "My Story." The Reality of Anxiety. Web. 11 June 2010. .

"Anxiety Disorders Statistics and Facts - HealthyPlace." HealthyPlace.com - Trusted Mental Health Information and Support - HealthyPlace. Web. 11 June 2010. .

"Teen Anxiety - Troubled Teen." Troubled Teen - Issues, Suicide, Depression, Pregnancy. Web. 11 June 2010. .

Connolly, Sucheta, Cynthia Petty, and David Simpson. Anxiety Disorders. New York: Chelsea House, 2006. Print.

Giacobello, John. Everything You Need to Know about Anxiety and Panic Attacks. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2000. Print.

Teen Anxiety Statistics

-80% of teens today are on some kind of anti-anxiety meds
-8-10 percent of adolescents suffer from an anxiety disorder
-prevelance rates for teens having at least one anxiety disorder range from 6% to 20%
-panic didsorder usually starts in the mid-teen years

Anxiety Disorders Statistics and Facts

* Anxiety Disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. with 19.1 million (13.3%) of the adult U.S. population (ages 18-54) affected.
* According to "The Economic Burden of Anxiety Disorders," a study commissioned by the ADAA and based on data gathered by the association and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, anxiety disorders cost the U.S. more than $42 billion a year, almost one third of the $148 billion total mental health bill for the U.S.
* More than $22.84 billion of those costs are associated with the repeated use of healthcare services, as those with anxiety disorders seek relief for symptoms that mimic physical illnesses.
* People with an anxiety disorder are three-to-five times more likely to go to the doctor and six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than non-sufferers.

My Story: The Reality of Anxiety

"I have struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember. The earliest panic attack I recall happened in high school around the year 2000. However, I wasn’t properly diagnosed with Social Anxiety until 2006.
On a date in high school I had what I now know was an anxiety attack that caused me to throw up in my date’s car on the way home. My date and all his friends called me “Bulimic” for the rest of the year.
I started to worry about being judged way before going to any event where eating was required. So I was walking into these situations already in a heightened state of anxiety and if something didn’t distract my thoughts, if I focused on it too much, I would end up hurling somewhere, which would only confirm people’s suspicions of me having an eating disorder. I know I do not suffer from bulimia or anorexia. I would love to gain weight and have tried to for years. I now know that my problem is anxiety that is triggered from the fear of being judged, and it is most prevalent around food because that is where I have been judged the most in my life.
I have other fears that give me lots of anxiety such as driving, going far from home like on a vacation, or some social situations. I don’t blame my anxiety on any of the people that I have mentioned. I fully understand that it is my responsibility to determine my attitude about these situations that I have been placed in. I only use it as a guide to understand how I got to where I am today."

-Aimee

A Teen's Story of Anxiety

"I've been dealing with anxiety since I left elementary school. Now I'm 17. My anxiety forced me to quit school when I was 15. I made it one month into my sophmore year. That was after I left public school halfway through my freshman year and did hospital homeboud (classes over the phone). It terrorized me.

As of now, I have learned to control it a bit. I've only had one attack in the past 6 months roughly. I'm quite proud of myself. It's really hard work. But I'm trying".

-Melody08

Apacalyptic Anxiety

This angsty teen has gone through so much work driven anxiety you could almost say it's apocalyptic:

"Let me tell you everything I have to do right now! All my grades are going down! I failed the past two Spanish tests! And I lost my Spanish book and the school is making me pay $100! I really have to study for finals next week! My parents won't let me go on vacation with them this summer because my dad got me a job at the postal store to pay for the book. The postal store! The postal store! What if they make me wear a visor?!? That is not happening. I'm grounded the first three weeks of summer! I have a history project due and a really stressful English Project! And on top of all that, the apocalypse is coming!!!"

Apocalyptica's story/life is a leading example not unlike any normal teenager going through an anxiety-driven life. In this case, it seems as though current society is expecting a lot from her and the only way her mind can deal with it is through anxiety. The anxiety is keeping her from getting her work done properly because all she's worrying about is how she's going to get it done. It also causes fatigue and leg twitching, which could be dangerous for a teen who falls victim to this that enjoys the art of staying still for the longest time possible.

Der Mooses' Story

I interviewed a young woman I know who happened to suffer from what the medical world calls General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Her voice was quiet and shaky, and (like clockwork) every few seconds she would look around anxiously. The atmosphere was tense:
"Every night before I go to bed I think about everything and worry about everything.My first day at work, I forgot to give someone their receipt and I was so worried I almost cried because I thought I was gonna get fired!" The interview went on in this tone, she went on to talk about an unrequited love she had a few weeks back and how her anxiety kept her from pursuing her bigoted endeavor. "I was to afraid of impressing him, because I thought I would do something wrong, and I'm really afraid of that." Her eyes ached with a feeling of regret of what could have been but wasn't because of her anxiety-driven fear holding her back. She was cognizant of it too. Several times I caught her spazming out random lines of recognition like: "It's so bad! It's so like . . . Oh my god!" Der Moose suffers from a specific kind of anxiety more formally known as Social Anxiety Disorder: A persistent irrational fear of situations in which the person may be closely watched and judged by others, as in public speaking, eating, or using public facilities. A person then becomes fearful of social or performance situations in which they may be subject to the scrutiny of others. As she described it, it controls every aspect of her life. She loses sleep over it, ruins her thought process by blocking her mind, makes her incapable of confronting people head-on, and is incapable of loving. She also mentioned it made her over-eat, mostly on goldfish, which you can interpret for yourself, but let me give you a hint: the snack that smiles backTM. So, is anxiety destroying the lives of teenagers like Der Moose everywhere? Yes..... but in some cases not as extreme. Although this case is a tad over-the-top, even minor cases of anxiety really can have a negative effect on teens and alter their personalities and behaviors for the worst.