Teens: The Dramatic Rise of Anxiety and Depression among our Youth.

Facebook did not like my previous blog on teenagers, social media, and substance abuse. So they blocked it. I am guessing they didn’t like me using the specific names of substances that kids abuse.

Which goes against my personal opinion… But… I don’t want this one to be blocked… so I am going to play nice.

My previous blog can still be found by the way on my website www.theclrgroup.com and CLR Group Facebook page. It is a must read. But I admit, I was kinda harsh and I do feel a tad bit bad about that.

BUT…I am not sorry about my sense of urgency to inform as many of you as possible about a very serious issue with our children.

I am really worried about the correlation I am seeing between social media, smartphones, and the decline of our children’s mental health. Its bad. Really bad and getting worse by the second.

Counseling Adolescents is no joke.If you have a teenager you know what I mean. It is super hard work. And I have done my homework!!!

Teenagers are become very sick. They are anxious, sad, angry, frustrated, apathetic, depressed.

Here is my theory ……why Anxiety and Depression are increasing so rapidly among our young adults.

We are all guilty of letting an incoming phone call from a friend or relative go to voicemail just so you can text them back to say your busy and will call later.

Why didn’t we just answer the phone and just say can I call you back later?

That’s because it requires more direct communication. It’s easier to text. This is very problematic with our youth because they only want to text and email these days.

Our teens are not getting enough practice relating to people and having in person real time conversations.

Our children are becoming increasing anxious and are developing anxiety disorders. They are fearful of our most primal form of communication talking and interacting with people.

Learning how to make friends is a major part of growing up, and friendship requires a certain amount of risk-taking. This is true for making a new friend, but it’s also true for maintaining friendships.

When there are problems that need to be faced—big ones or small ones—it takes courage to be honest about your feelings and then hear what the other person has to say.

Learning to effectively cross these bridges is part of what makes friendship fun and exciting, and also scary.

Part of healthy self-esteem is knowing how to say what you think and feel even when you’re in disagreement with other people or it feels emotionally risky.

But when friendship is conducted online and through texts, kids are doing this in a context stripped of many of the most personal—and sometimes intimidating—aspects of communication.

It’s easier to keep your guard up when you’re texting, so less is at stake.

You aren’t hearing or seeing the effect that your words are having on the other person.

The conversation isn’t happening in real time, each party can take more time to consider a response. No wonder kids say calling someone on the phone is “too intense”—it requires more direct communication, and if you aren’t used to that it may well feel scary.

This is how our kids are feeling 24/7.

Our kids are involved in social media apps such as Snapchat, GroupMe, What’s App and more that are leading to devious and dark discussions. They feel pressured to be in these online groups where friends will make “snap” comments through text that they would never say face to face.

This leads to anxiety when they do have to encounter this person face to face.

Or how about this scenario….

Have you ever had a family reunion or work dinner that you really dreaded but then your child suddenly gets sick and you have a legitimate excuse to stay home?

Your so happy and relieved….

This is how our children secretly feel about a lot of these groups. They are not going to all the sudden say to their friends”Hey guys, this GroupMe chat is making me feel uncomfortable and is compromising my values…so I think I am going to opt out”. No way.

But if they said “My Mom read my texts and group messages last night and said I can’t use this app anymore. You guys catch me up on the 411 at school tomorrow, okay.”

By parenting we can lift this burden off our kids shoulders which can make all the difference between a happy healthy well adjusted child verses a anxious and severely depressed child.

Parents they secretly want you to do the heavy lifting for them….

Check out my previous blog to find out how to actually read all your teens texts and group messages…you will be shocked what these kids are saying. It is disturbing. We would all be depressed and anxious if we were pressured into these conversations.