Managing Anxiety During Thanksgiving with DBT Skills
Thanksgiving is typically thought of as a time of year when families get together, stuff themselves with tasty food, and watch a parade or football game. However, for some teens, Thanksgiving induces anxiety for a variety of reasons.
What Causes Anxiety at Thanksgiving?
Anxiety in simple words can cause your teen’s brain to go into a “Fight or Flight'' mode under certain situations. It can give them a nervous feeling, a rapid heart beat, shortness of breath, stomach issues, and a feeling of dismay or dread. These symptoms are basically a defence process for the body during a real threat situation, but if they become more frequent or sever, they can affect a person’s ability to work, study and participate in other activities.
There are many elements of Thanksgiving that could trigger anxiety in a teen, such as:
Going to an unfamiliar location to visit family
Spending time around new people or too many people
Concerns about eating too much food or too little food
Being in an enclosed space or around too much noise
DBT Skills for Anxiety at Thanksgiving
Although anxiety can be scary in the moment, dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) offers skills that your teen can use to cope during a crisis. Consider talking with your teen about how they can use these skills during Thanksgiving with the family:
Mindfulness : Mindfulness is about being aware of and accepting what’s happening in the present moment. This can help a person learn to notice and accept their thoughts and feelings without judgement.
Distress Tolerance : Distress tolerance skills help a person to get through rough patches without turning to potentially destructive coping techniques. In times of crisis, they might use certain coping strategies to help them deal with their emotions.
Interpersonal Effectiveness : Interpersonal effectiveness skills can help a person to be clear of rapid mood changes. These skills combine listening skills, social skills, and assertiveness training that can help them learn how to change situations while remaining true to their values.
Emotional Regulation : Emotion regulation skills help a person learn to deal with primary emotional reactions before they lead to a chain of distressing secondary reactions.
Since the festive months are closing in and it's that of the year when all the family members and friends gather and celebrate together. For a teen trying to manage their emotions, coming up with small behavioral steps to begin to approach social interactions will begin to break the incapacitating hold of anxiety.
