The Anxiety Survival Guide for Teens

It might seem as if fears are only yours and everyone else lives calmly and confidently. In reality, many teenagers worry too—just for different reasons. Someone gets hit by panic standing at the blackboard in class; someone else is scared in an elevator or in other enclosed spaces. Even the leader of a football team—someone who easily shouts down the whole stadium—can lose his composure near a cute girl, while the most confident “class star” may be terrified of germs to the point of exhaustion and endlessly washes her hands for fear of getting sick. Whatever your worries are like, this book will help reduce their influence and bring back your freedom to act.

The author compares an obsessive stream of anxious thoughts to a “little monkey” that scrambles from branch to branch. You’ll learn how to stop obeying this “monkey mind,” notice its chatter, and not react to false alarm signals. The main idea is simple: anxiety and anxious behavior are triggered not by the situation itself, but by how you interpret it.

Fears can occur at any age, but especially often they affect children and teenagers: school workload, relationships with peers, events in the family, and a generally intense social life all influence the psyche. The book is designed as a clear, practical helper that will help you feel more confident in places where panic and tension used to appear. It addresses different forms of anxiety, including: generalized anxiety (for example, constant worries about bad news and possible troubles), social phobia (fear of looking ridiculous or saying the wrong thing), agoraphobia (fear of being in a place from which it’s hard to leave), obsessive-compulsive symptoms (for example, an intrusive fear of getting sick or harming yourself), as well as separation anxiety (worry that something terrible will happen to loved ones). For each topic, simple and effective exercises are provided that you can do on your own. The result is less anxiety without real reasons, more willingness to try new things, less avoidance of “scary” situations, and growth in self-esteem.

Fears can show up in school and behavior: because of them, a teenager withdraws, becomes irritable, avoids communication, and gradually loses confidence. Jennifer Shannon’s book explains where anxiety and worry come from and provides techniques adapted specifically for teenagers: they’re understandable, not overloaded with theory, and meant for use in everyday life. Once you learn these methods, it becomes easier to keep baseless fears under control and stay calm even in unusual circumstances.

The book is for teenagers who know thoughts like: “At the board I’ll mess everything up, and everyone will think I’m stupid,” “What if I don’t like the new people and they won’t accept me,” “If I say something wrong, they’ll laugh,” “If I fail the exam, it will ruin my future,” “It seems like something is wrong with me—what if it’s a serious disease?” It will support those who are tired of living in anticipation of the worst and want to regain a sense of control.

We decided to publish this book because teenagers with anxiety disorders often consider themselves weak, are afraid to look funny, and even to their loved ones they don’t dare admit what they’re feeling—so they end up alone with fear. This book shows: these difficulties are common, and they can be managed. The author speaks to teenagers in a clear language—with warmth and humor—and the illustrations make reading easier and more vivid.

Jennifer Shannon is a licensed psychotherapist working in cognitive-behavioral therapy and specializing in anxiety. She has more than 30 years of practice with children, teenagers, and adults, as well as several books on this topic. Her daughter Rose inspired the creation of the first edition: when Rose was in middle school, her anxiety and stress intensified so much that it turned into a serious problem. Helping her daughter, Jennifer accumulated experience she decided to share with other families. The book’s illustrations were created by Doug Shannon—a cartoonist and the author’s husband. Jennifer and Doug live in Santa Rosa, California.

Key topics: perfectionism, confidence, thoughts and feelings, hyper-responsibility, anxiety and worry, behavioral strategies, thinking, self-esteem, and an anxious mind.