Owen Wood suffered from anxiety as a young teenager. He tells me how he coped, what his parents did to support him, and what helped him at school during those years. We talk about how travelling on a budget during Race Across The World taught him to have faith in himself, and how he copes with the nerves of travelling alone now.

Owen says that, just because you're an anxious teenager, it doesn't mean you're going to be an anxious adult. The trick, he says, is to try new things anyway, and to have faith in your own ability to take care of yourself. The more you experiment and realise that you can survive difficult things, the more confident you become.

Who is Owen Wood?

22 year old Owen Wood lives in Hertfordshire and is currently training to be a commercial airline pilot. However, you might know his name from season 4 of Race Across The World, which he won along with his friend Alfie Watts. After winning on the show last year, he went straight back out to Southeast Asia to do it all over again! He’s now planning on doing the same in Australia later this year. We talk about how it felt to be on the TV programme, and stress and excitement of the race.

You might be forgiven for thinking that Owen owes his travel confidence to a carefree attitude to life, but he talks openly about his struggles with anxiety as a teenager. He’s now an ambassador for teenage mental health charity The Mix, a website for teenagers and young adults where you can find information and support for most issues you might face as a teenager.

Useful links:

• Free counselling at The Mix
• Owen on Instagram

Evan Transue started suffering with panic attacks at the age of 5. He had no family history of trauma, and due to his seemingly great life, his panic attacks went misdiagnosed for over 10 years. During this time, he developed other mental health conditions, and eventually turned to substances to numb the pain. Eventually he was diagnosed with panic disorder, and had an aha moment that changed his life.

We talk about what panic attacks feel like, how they can lead to depression, and how parents can help support teenagers as they learn to deal with them. Evan now hasn’t had a panic attack in 10 years.

Who is Evan Transue?

Evan is the host of The Health Detective Podcast and owner of Bucks County Light Therapy and Functional Medicine Center. He graduated from Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN) in 2017. Prior to finding FDN he and his mother had suffered with a variety of health challenges for over a decade. The FDN system transformed his and his mom's lives so profoundly that all of his work is now centered around spreading its teachings. Evan speaks professionally to middle and high school students about mental health challenges and to date has spoken to 50,000 students.

More teenage parenting from Helen Wills

• Helen Wills Counselling and Parent Coaching
• Actually Mummy parenting teens blog
• Helen on Instagram

Thank you for listening! Subscribe to the Teenage Kicks podcast to hear new episodes. If you have a suggestion for the podcast please email helen@actuallymummy.co.uk.

For information on your data privacy please visit Zencastr's policy page

Please note that Helen Wills is not a medical expert, and nothing in the podcast should be taken as medical advice. If you're worried about yourself or a teenager, please seek support from a medical professional.

Episode produced by Michael J Cunningham

Parents often worry about the teenage years. The term 'threenager' is frequently used to describe the toddler tantrums that leave parents tearing their hair out. I used it myself, with an eyeroll and a wry smile, but now that I've been through the teenage years I'm apologetic about that. I think it's patronising, and it doesn't help our relationships with our teens.

Katia Vlachos has experienced this from the teen point of view, and it took her until adulthood to realise that her 'good girl' behaviour wasn't serving her. She talks to me about how easy it is to raise a people-pleasing teenager (even when we think we're on the receiving end of full-scale rebellion), and why it's not such a good thing to have a teenager who sticks to the rules.

Who is Katia Vlachos?

Katia Vlachos is a coach and author of a new book called Uncaged. Raised in a traditional Greek family, Katia's early years were spent trying to please others as the perfect daughter and student, but she often found ways to embrace her rebellious spirit - including sneaking out at night and driving off into the sunset on the back of her boyfriend's Harley Davidson. As she grew up, Katia became more weighed down by this 'good girl' persona she'd be trying to live up to until one day, when she was in her 40s, she faced the reality that the life she was living had been designed to make other people happy and not herself.

After a series of life-altering events – including the death of her beloved father and the end of her 17-year marriage – Katia confronts how being obsessed with being seen as 'good' has affected her life decisions and sets out on a path of self-discovery and reinvention. Unpicking how she had been conditioned since childhood to chase societal approval and put the needs and desires of others above her own, Katia used her experiences to write a book about her story and inspire other women who are fed up of feeling guilty for wanting more.

• Katia's book - Uncaged: A Good Girl's journey to reinvention
• Katia on Instagram
• Katia on LinkedIn
• KatiaVlachos.com
• How to Fail podcast

More teenage parenting from Helen Wills

• Helen Wills Counselling and Parent Coaching
• Actually Mummy parenting teens blog
• Helen on Instagram

Thank you for listening! Subscribe to the Teenage Kicks podcast to hear new episodes. If you have a suggestion for the podcast please email helen@actuallymummy.co.uk.

For information on your data privacy please visit Zencastr's policy page

Please note that Helen Wills is not a medical expert, and nothing in the podcast should be taken as medical advice. If you're worried about yourself or a teenager, please seek support from a medical professional.

Episode produced by Michael J Cunningham