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Mental health

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Anxious 14 year old

4 replies

Christo77 · 22/08/2013 13:02

My 14 year old son has very recently developed symptoms of anxiety .
Tummy aches , aches and pains generally . Loss of appetite , difficulty swallowing because of a lump in his throat etc....
He looks unhappy and worried . He does talk to me and admits theses feelings and even says himself it's anxiety !
He found a lump under his nipple and has just started puberty , despite being reassured by our doctor that it was only hormones and nothing to worry about . This only relieved him for a day . Now he is worrying about feeling ill and that something is wrong with him .
I researched his Internet history and found for the past few days he has been looking up things including being afraid of dying , to chest pain and paranoia !
I have no idea how to help him and would appreciate any advice from anyone out there .
It's so sudden as he has never displayed anything like this before .
Do I try to distract him or talk more about it ?

OP posts:
burberryqueen · 22/08/2013 13:04

poor boy, does he smoke weed at all?

Christo77 · 22/08/2013 13:29

No he doesn't .

OP posts:
Enb76 · 22/08/2013 13:35

I imagine he's really anxious about whether the stuff happening to him is normal and frightening himself on google (google is not your friend). I think that if you have a friendly doctor you should book a double session and get your boy to go, without you, and let him talk about the health issues he's worried about. Puberty is a horrible time.

Elderflowergranita · 22/08/2013 16:52

Anything else going on in his life that could be causing anxiety? Friendship issues, stressed about going back to school?

It's a difficult age. Would he open up to you if there were other worries going on, or is he simply focusing on this health issue? (sorry for all the questions!)

If it's a generalised anxiety it might be worth looking at techniques to lessen these feelings. CBT can work wonders.

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