Children With Anxiety
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Children With Anxiety
Hello and Welcome.
Today I am going to talk about How to Help Children With Anxiety.
Childhood anxiety can turn into a quite a serious problem or disorder if it’s not addressed as soon as it is diagnosed. A plan needs to be developed and put into place to make the child feel safe and more confident.
Children with Anxiety issues need assistance to help them deal with their feelings of anxiety. Strategies need to be developed to assist them in dealing with life problems. Each problem they face and every skill they learn will serve them well in conquering their anxiety. Knowing that the skills they learn and develop will assist them, will help them build their self-confidence and be more able to face their challenges head on.
Children with Anxiety…
…Need to Understand That Their feelings are Normal.
You’ll notice anxiety in babies, toddlers, primary, secondary and even college or university students.It is Normal. you know yourself, that there are many incidences each day which cause you anxiety yourself. Anxiety in children can take place daily as well.
Children with Anxiety may be dealing with different issues at every age. These anxieties are real. As children grow, their fears may be manifested in many different ways. Babies might cry when you leave them, school-age children may cry at being away from you in a new setting and teens might fear being on their own and having to make their own decisions in such a world full of “peer pressure.”
Children with Anxiety..
..need you to remain calm and focussed.
Here are a few things you can do to help them develop their Coping Skills:
## Talk to your child about how scared they really are. For example, a pre-schooler may be traumatized by you leaving him at school, but, at the same time, excited about having so much play time with the other children. Ask him if he’s happy that he’ll get to play with toys and with other children. It is so essential that you familiarise him with the kinder and other children attending before leaving him there on his own. Walk inside with him for the first few sessions until he starts hooking up with his new friends straight away. Kinder /pre-school teachers are very aware of the anxieties that little folk have.They will help a lot and be more than willing for you to stay a while.
## Be extremely gentle when helping children with anxiety. For example, if your child seems fearful of having the light turned off in his room at night, talk to him and join him in searching every crevice and corner in the room to reassure him that everything is normal. A nightlight will definitely help. Another idea is to leave the light on in the passage so he can still see if he wakes up.
## Encourage your child to talk about his fears and anxious feelings. These fears are very real for children with anxiety. Don’t demean them by dismissing those fears. Addressing the child’s concerns face on and working with him to overcome them, is a valuable tool to help overcome his anxiety. An idea is to have family discussions on a daily basis – maybe around the tea table. Everyone gets a turn to speak about their joys and sorrows of the day – even the parents! As a family, you can solve problems together.If this becomes a daily habit, your children will become used to family chats and will be more likely to come to you in the future.
## Don’t give in to your child’s fears. Giving in only makes the fear seem more real. Make sure the child knows that you understand why he feels as he does, but be firm about the outcome. For example, before walking in to your child’s kinder/preschool class, make sure he understands that you will stay a while, but you will be leaving him once he’s settled. Be firm about this. He needs to develop independence. Make sure you are on time to pick him up too. There’s nothing worse than the feeling of abandonment. Once he is older, you can practise the skill of where to wait for mum or dad if they are a little late.
## Be a role model. One coping strategy for children with anxiety is to let them see how you cope. If you consistently react in panic mode when you’re late for an appointment, for example, your child will think that’s a normal reaction. But, if you react to your anxiety with a more positive attitude, saying things like, “I have to get up earlier next time,” the child will learn those coping strategies.
Older Children with Anxiety
When a child is old enough to reason with, you may want to teach him other strategies such as deep breathing and visualization techniques.
One very interesting technique is the Linden Method.
Remember – each fear that your child overcomes will help them overcome greater challenges which will take place later on in their lives.
Hopefully, you have gained some ideas about ways of helping children with anxiety. If you have, please share and leave a comment.
photo credit: allspice1 via photopin cc