My Kid Has Anxiety

My daughter, Jasmyne, has anxiety. She’s only 15 years old. It’s hard as a parent to watch your kid struggle with an illness you know so well because you have it too. Mental health is something that is hard to keep on a level plane sometimes.

What She Is Anxious About:

The poor kid has massive anxiety about going to school, going out in public at times — all the earmarks of social anxiety. She has problems doing schoolwork sometimes due to her anxiety, and she’s anxious about getting sick as she has an autoimmune disease on top of everything else. Plus she gets pain in her joints, which may be another autoimmune disease. The kid has a lot to be anxious about, that’s for sure. She’s a tough kid, but every kid has their breaking point, especially in today’s society. There is so much pressure on kids these days, pressure that we didn’t have growing up. Social media plays a large role in that pressure.

What We’re Doing to Help Her:

I decided to change tactics and sign her up for online schooling through a no tuition public online school in my area. If she is accepted, she’ll be able to do all her schooling from the comfort of her home, and not have to worry about entering her current school, except when she is doing sports through them. I’m hoping that reduces some of the anxiety, as she wasn’t getting enough help or even understanding her lessons due to the anxiety.

I’ve only been taking her out in public when she feels up to it, basically when she’s in her bright, cheery, normal mood. She gets really down and dark when the anxiety kicks in, there may even be a small amount of depression going on as well. I’ve made an appointment with her doctor to talk about her anxiety some more, as she needs some kind of help, whether she likes it or not. As she says, she’s not much of a talker when it comes to her feelings, but I believe it is necessary.

Why I’m Doing This for Her:

For one thing, she’s my baby, my only child currently. Plus some of the stress on the kid is coming from me. Stress is healthy until it’s not, and we’ve crossed that border. I know what it is like to have major anxiety, and she also has panic attacks as I do. So I sympathize with her. As a mother, I only want the best for my daughter, and right now traditional school isn’t it. She isn’t learning if she’s dealing with anxiety and panic attacks at school, or keeps getting so sick that’s she is out for days at a time, sometimes weeks. She has missed a lot of school this year due to anxiety and illness, so it makes no sense to me to keep her in the place that causes a lot of it.

Hopefully what I’m doing will allow her room to grow and learn, as she should be — plus I’m hoping that she’ll end up with the grades to do what she desires in life. She’s just not used to the pressure of high school. Though she does want to try to graduate early – she really isn’t feeling school so much anymore. I’m hoping some of her love of learning comes back once she starts online school, and maybe some of her joy of life. I haven’t cut out her social media usage, because she will never learn how to deal with that pressure without it. Plus she keeps in touch via social media when she’s out and about — safety first!