Use the charts below to help you identify the signs of anxiety and depression in adolescents.

• Pay attention to your child’s feelings.
• Stay calm when your child becomes anxious about a situation or event.
• Recognize and praise small accomplishments.
• Don’t punish mistakes or lack of progress.
• Modify expectations during stressful periods.
• Be patient and be prepared to listen.
• Avoid being overly critical, disparaging, impatient, or cynical.
• Maintain realistic, attainable goals and expectations for your child.
• Do not communicate that perfection is expected or acceptable.
• Maintain consistent but flexible routines for homework, chores, activities, etc.
• Accept that mistakes are a normal part of growing up and that no one is expected to do everything equally well.
• Praise and reinforce effort, even if success is less than expected. Practice and rehearse upcoming events, such as giving a speech or other performance.
• Teach your child simple strategies to help with anxiety, such as organizing materials and time, developing small scripts of what to do and say to himself or herself when anxiety increases, and learning how to relax under stressful conditions.
• Do not treat feelings, questions, and statements about feeling anxious as silly or unimportant.
• Often, reasoning is not effective in reducing anxiety. Do not criticize your child for not being able to respond to rational approaches.

• Familiarize yourself with the signs of depression and your child's experience with it.
• Try to keep conflict in the home low.
  • Try to not get involved in little battles, but think about the big picture in getting your child healthy.
  • Try to be even more nurturing, warm, and accepting.
  • Try not to argue with your partner or other adults in front of your child.
• Destress together, model positive ways to take care of yourself.
•       Take a walk together, take part in visualization and deep breathing exercises
• Help your child shift negative thinking. Try to listen—being truly heard is one of the best gifts we can give our children—yet help your child move these thoughts in a more positive direction.
• Mindfulness strategies
  • Help your child learn to use other ways of thinking
• Develop a healthy lifestyle.
  • Help your child get an appropriate amount of sleep and maintain a healthy diet.
  • Make your home safe.
    • Limiting the availability of weapons and drugs