by Sophia Onysko


Anxiety: (n.) a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. That is the definition from Dictonary.com on the word anxiety. Anxiety is a disorder that has grown in teens by almost 20% from 2007 to 2012. That means that 1 in 3 teens have been diagnosed with anxiety. Anxiety has been getting increasingly worse for teens throughout the years, and the reasons range from school work, to meeting expectations for what other people think of you or how you think about yourself. It’s growing exponentially because of excessive work or pressure. There’s nothing we can really do about workloads and pressure because you know, teachers, but the best you can do is try to take deep breaths and work through it all. Breath in for four, hold for eight, and out for seven. It might not work so…sorry about that, but just try to relax and move on.

If you suffer from anxiety, here are some ways you can cope with it:

-Try to calm down by breathing in for four, hold for eight, and out for seven. 

-Try to ground yourself by naming 5 things you see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can touch, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste.

– Drink something warm

– Aromatherapy. Smell something that you think soothes you, some of the common ones are lavender, peppermint, chamomile and sandalwood.

-Try to talk to someone, if you can’t (or feel like you can’t) try to write out what you’re thinking at that moment.

-Listen to something you like, whether it’s music or a certain sound you like listening to it should help you. 

-Go for a walk