ANXIETY IN ADOLESCENTS: HOW MEDITATION, DEEP BREATHING, AND NUTRITION CAN HELP

In the United States, more than 6% of adolescents aged 12-19 years reported having used psychotropic drugs to treat clinical psychiatric symptoms or mental disorders, which included antidepressants (3.2%), ADHD drugs (3.2%), anxiolytics/sedatives/hypnotics (0.5%), and antimanics (0.2%). Furthermore, 4.5% reported using only one medication, while 1.8% reported having used two or more medications. Nearly half of adolescents (53%) in the United States that used psychotropic drugs had been seen by a mental health professional within the previous year. While females were more likely than males to use antidepressants, males were more likely to use ADHD medications than females. Meditation and deep breathing have been shown to decrease stress levels, provide calmness, improve concentration, memory, and focus. Research provides evidence that meditation and deep breathing exercises: (1) synchronize the heart and brain, (2) reduce the harmful effects of stress, (3) shift the body from a sympathetic state to a parasympathetic state, (4) lowers blood pressure, (5) improves concentration, focus, and memory, and (6) reduces anxiety and depression. We suggest that in some cases meditation and deep breathing exercises could potentially attenuate the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and ADHD providing adolescents with a non-pharmaceutical treatment option. Meditation and deep breathing exercises can be practiced daily for twenty minutes by adolescents to achieve positive results, possibly reducing the need for medications at during such an early age. We urge parents, health care professionals, and schools to consider providing education about the benefits of these alternative treatment methods as first line treatments to anxiety, depression, and ADHD