At Foundation of Stone Pediatric & Perinatal Family Chiropractic, we hear the worry in parents’ voices every day—parents who have watched their once energetic, joyful teen become withdrawn, anxious, and overwhelmed. You’ve tried talking it through, explored traditional healthcare routes, and maybe even considered medication. And yet… the struggle continues.
What if there’s something deeper going on—something that hasn’t been addressed yet?
The Crisis Facing Our Teens
It’s no secret that today’s teenagers are facing a mental health crisis. The CDC reports that 44% of American high school students experience persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Even more alarming, nearly 1 in 3 teenage girls have seriously considered suicide.
While we’ve seen positive shifts in behaviors like lower teen pregnancy and reduced alcohol use, anxiety and depression continue to rise across all groups. That tells us something important: this isn’t just about behavior. It’s about something deeper, something physiological.
What If It’s Not Just “In Their Head”?
For decades, the conventional approach has focused on treating these symptoms as the result of a “chemical imbalance.” But this theory has been heavily questioned—and may not tell the whole story.
From a neurological lens, we often see something else entirely: a nervous system stuck in overdrive. Constant stress. Always “on.” Living in survival mode.
This isn’t just emotional. It’s physical. It’s neurological. And it’s called dysautonomia—an imbalance in the Autonomic Nervous System that leaves teens stuck in “fight or flight” without enough access to calm, healing, and regulation.
The Nervous System and Emotional Health
Our Autonomic Nervous System has two primary branches:
- The sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze)
- The parasympathetic (rest, digest, regulate)
For teens experiencing chronic stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout, we often find a dominance of the sympathetic state—which can feel like a body and mind that just can’t calm down, recover, or feel peace.
A key player in this equation? The vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve is responsible for supporting digestion, immune regulation, heart rate, and—critically—emotional resilience. When stress, subluxation, or tension interferes with vagus nerve function, it becomes incredibly difficult for teens to emotionally regulate, adapt, or connect. The result? Burnout, overwhelm, and the spiral of mental health challenges.
The “Perfect Storm” Starts Early
This state of imbalance doesn’t begin in high school. For many, it starts much earlier—what we call The Perfect Storm. A combination of early stressors can set the stage:
- Stress during pregnancy
- Birth interventions or trauma (forceps, vacuum, C-section)
- Frequent illnesses and antibiotics early in life
- Gut-brain axis disruption
- Increased screen time and digital overstimulation
- Decreased physical activity and poor sleep
Layer after layer builds until the nervous system is simply maxed out.
Could Your Teen Be Showing Signs of Nervous System Stress?
Here are a few signs that may indicate underlying neurological imbalance:
🧠 Difficulty sleeping or falling asleep
😣 Digestive issues or food sensitivities
💤 Chronic fatigue or “crashes”
😢 Mood swings, persistent sadness, or irritability
📉 Drop in academic performance or social withdrawal
🤯 Sensitivity to loud noises, bright lights, or busy environments
If this feels familiar—you’re not alone, and there is hope.
At Foundation of Stone, We Focus on the Root
At our office, we don’t guess—we assess. Using gentle, non-invasive technology called INSiGHT Scans, we measure how well your teen’s nervous system is functioning. These scans help us pinpoint exactly where stress is being stored, how the body is adapting, and how we can best support healing.
From there, we create a care plan unique to your teen—focusing on restoring proper function, relieving sympathetic stress, and stimulating the vagus nerve to activate healing, connection, and calm.
We don’t treat anxiety or depression—we support the nervous system so the body and brain can function at their best.
Real Hope for Real Families
We’ve seen teens come into our practice quiet, withdrawn, and weighed down by their stress. And we’ve watched them begin to smile again. Laugh again. Sleep better. Connect more. Not because we gave them something from the outside in—but because we helped restore the foundation of health from the inside out.
If you’re a parent who feels like you’ve tried everything, we want you to know: there’s another path. A natural, gentle, and neurologically-informed path focused on getting to the root cause.
Reach out to us at Foundation of Stone Pediatric & Perinatal Family Chiropractic to schedule a consultation and INSiGHT Scan. If you’re not local to us in Hardin Valley, Knoxville, you can find a like-minded provider through the PX Docs directory.
Your teen’s story isn’t finished.
Let’s take the next step—toward healing, balance, and restored hope.