Design for Life: How can I help my teenage son cope with anxiety?

This week, Dr Harry Barry helps a dad whose son is experiencing performance anxiety on the football pitch

Adolescents are especially prone to anxiety, embarrassment or shame, and so much of their actions or behaviours are in turn a response to these emotions

Dear Expert,

I’m getting in touch about my son. He’s a very talented teenage footballer, but he struggles with pre-match nerves. Sometimes he has gone off in the middle of a match with injuries, which he’s confessed to me privately haven’t been as bad as he’s made them look. Although his coach hasn’t been told, I would say that he suspects it. As a dad, I feel very helpless about what to do. I don’t ...