Anxiety In Teens/Tweens: Middletown Library Hosts Talk Wednesday Night

MIDDLETOWN, NJ ? Is your teenage or pre-teen son or daughter struggling with anxiety?

This Wednesday night, Oct. 26, the Middletown Public Library will host a talk about teens dealing with anxiety. The talk is called ?Techniques to Help Your Anxious Teen" and will feature Megan Callus, an applied neuroanatomy specialist who will share techniques to help teens manage their anxiety.

The talk begins at 7 p.m. and is free. Registration is recommended for all programs as space is limited. Please visit the library calendar at mtpl.org to sign up. Parents and their teens should attend.

Anxiety rates in American children are skyrocketing, according to the latest Rutgers research, as more schools and psychologists are screening children for anxiety.

"Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder affecting children. Parents and caregivers don?t always recognize the symptoms or know what to do about them," said Stephanie Marcello, the chief psychologist at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care. "Universal screening can literally save lives as well as prevent more severe symptoms and the emergence of other behavioral health challenges.?

This is the first of three programs the Middletown Library will host this October and November to address mental health in teens:

• ?Hearts and Minds? at 7 p.m. on Nov. 16, presented by the National Alliance of Mental Health. NAMI will provide an overview of techniques and resources to help teens keep themselves well throughout their lives and deal with problems as they arise.
• ?Brain Bunch? at 7 p.m. on Nov. 30 is a Harry Potter Youth Mental Health program that will help teens improve their mental strength by discovering martial arts strategies used to promote self-defense. This Harry Potter-themed talk is for both tweens and teens.