Anxiety in Teens Doesn’t Always Look Like Anxiety

When most people think of anxiety, they imagine worry, panic, or fear that’s spoken out loud.

But in children and teenagers, anxiety often looks very different.

Many young people don’t say, “I feel anxious.”
In fact, they often don’t yet have the language for it at all.

Instead, anxiety shows up through the body, and very often, through the gut.

This often shows up in teens and older children, even when they don’t feel “anxious” in the usual sense.

What Parents Often Notice Instead

Parents usually don’t come in saying, “My teen has anxiety.”
They come in saying things like:

• “They wake up with stomach pain before school.”
• “They’re in the bathroom constantly.”
• “They suddenly don’t want to go out anymore.”
• “They feel sick for no obvious reason.”
• “They’re fine all day, then melt down at home.”
• “They panic if they don’t know where the toilets are.”
• “They’re irritable, withdrawn, or emotionally shut down.”
• “They can’t explain what’s wrong, they just say their stomach hurts.”

These patterns can be confusing, frustrating, and worrying to watch.

And because the symptoms are physical, the underlying anxiety is often missed.

When the Gut Becomes the Messenger

In many teens, the gut becomes the place where stress, pressure, and overwhelm show up first.

Not because anything is “wrong” with their digestion, but because the gut is closely connected to the nervous system.

School pressure.
Social expectations.
Fear of embarrassment.
Perfectionism.
Holding things together all day.

When the nervous system stays on high alert, the gut responds in many ways; 

Pain.
Urgency.
Nausea.
Sensitivity.

The body is communicating something the teen may not yet have words for. Even many adults struggle to make sense of these signals, despite years of life experience.

This Is Not Weakness or Attention-Seeking

It’s important to say this clearly.

These symptoms are not:

• exaggeration
• laziness
• avoidance
• attention-seeking
• a lack of resilience

There isn’t something “wrong” with you. These are signs of a nervous system doing its best to cope under sustained pressure.

Many teenagers experiencing gut-related anxiety are actually highly sensitive, conscientious, and emotionally aware, even if it doesn’t look that way on the surface.

Why It Often Gets Missed

Because anxiety doesn’t look like anxiety.

There may be:

• no obvious panic attacks
• no constant worrying out loud
• no clear emotional explanation

Just a body that reacts before the mind can catch up.

Medical tests are often normal.
Reassurance helps briefly, then symptoms return.
Parents are left feeling stuck between concern and confusion.

What Helps Is Looking at the Whole Picture

When we stop asking “What’s wrong with their gut?” and start asking “What is their nervous system trying to manage?” things begin to make more sense.

Support that helps teens:

• feel safe in their bodies
• understand their physical responses
• calm the gut-brain connection
• rebuild trust in everyday situations

can make a real difference, not just to symptoms, but to confidence and emotional wellbeing.

A Word for Parents

If you’re reading this and recognising your child, you’re not imagining it.

And you’re not failing them.

These patterns are more common than people realise, and they are workable with the right kind of support, support that respects both the body and the emotional world your teen is navigating.

Sometimes the stomach ache is the message.

And when it’s understood properly, things can begin to ease.

I work with older children (12+) and teens, where gut symptoms are often the nervous system’s way of communicating stress. 

If you’d like support for your teen, you can learn more about my IBS & gut anxiety therapy online for adults and children (12+) here https://www.kymhall.com/