I’m a psychologist with a history of anxiety. Treating it as a permanent problem might make young people feel worse

As the public conversation about anxiety continues to swell, I've been asking myself: would I have been better off as an anxious teenager today? Despite all the recent awareness-raising efforts, the reduction in stigma, the lessons in schools - and despite how hard it was navigating my own anxiety in silence - I find myself answering "No". A clinical psychologist working in schools told me that these adjustments are often put in place with no intention to review them, ever, as though the young person's anxiety will unquestioningly be there - and should be accommodated - for ever, rather than being treated. Some neurodivergent young people may also need more permanent adjustments to help them cope and succeed at school. People talk about the runner's high, but I think there is an equivalent for people prone to anxiety - let's call it the worrier's high. The solution is to help young people see that the label of anxiety is a starting point to challenging themselves and being brave, not an endpoint that will dictate their limitations for ever. Teach adults what anxiety looks like in young people and tell them how they can help. As much as possible, avoid treating anxiety as if it is a permanent personality trait.

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