Dealing with Anxiety and Perfectionism in Teens

Today I am sharing something pretty personal. The full story is over at Deseret News today and is sponsored by BonCom because they are trying to bring awareness to the issue of teenage anxiety. I hope that this helps someone out there. There was a period of about eight years in my life that I constantly experienced pain in my stomach due to mild anxiety. The constant fiery churning in my gut was always present during high school and most of college. It was there when I took tests in school. It was there when I worried about current events. It was there when I struggled with friends and fitting in. It was there when I worried about my future. It was just always there. It became normal for me to feel this anxious pain in my stomach.

*This post is sponsored by BonCom

I was a good student and tried to be a good person. I was a people-pleaser, a peacemaker, and I had many friends. I rarely asked questions in class, not wanting to cause a problem for my teacher or say the wrong thing. Yet, I gave myself the expectation to get all A’s. I tried to be what I thought other people wanted me to be. I deeply desired to be one of the smart, successful kids who were getting lots of scholarships and perfect grades. I wanted to be involved in extracurricular activities, and still have time to look great and be loved by everyone. I wanted to be organized and make my bed perfectly everyday. I wanted to be perfect.

Finally, I reached a turning point in my stressful, perfectionistic thinking . . . {READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE}

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Can you relate? Have you ever experienced anxiety or the idea that you should be PERFECT? If you or someone you love is dealing with perfectionism or anxiety, I highly recommend this story AND the other stories over at this link. There are a collection of personal stories and articles written by people who truly care about the mental and emotional health of our teens and have experienced it in some way. My anxiety and worry was mild, to say the least, but I learned so much from it. I truly believe that this is a topic that needs to be discussed more so we can help each other. Please click on over and support this discussion. Thank you so much!