If Your Adolescent Has an Anxiety Disorder: An Essential Resource for Parents (Adolescent Mental Health Initiative)

Growing up can be stressful for any teenager, but it is considerably harder for the many adolescents who develop an anxiety disorder. This book is an essential guide for parents, teachers, or other adults involved with teenagers who may e affected by these disorders. By bringing together two strands of expertise--that of mental health professionals and of parents who have lived through the experience of their own teenager's mental illness--If Your Adolescent Has an Anxiety Disorder provides adult readers with the clinical information and practical advice they need to understand and help the teen. There are chapters detailing four the different types of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety, generalized anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and post-traumatic stress disorders. Each includes a clearly written definition, a discussion of factors that can contribute to developing the disorder, treatment information, and case studies based on a real family's own experience with the disease. Tips and quotes from parents are sprinkled liberally throughout the text, and helpful sidebars provide more detailed information. The authors also provide a chapter fully dedicated to discussing treatment options, including what role parents play in treatment, how to juggle treatment and school, and how to handle insurance and managed care issues. Knowing the right information about anxiety disorders is the first step towards helping adolescents who are dealing with them grow to become healthy, happy adults.