Anxiety is a normal and very common feeling, both in the lives of adults and children, however, when this anxiety is very strong and prevents the child from living his life normally or from participating in various activities, it can be a more serious situation, which needs to be treated to allow a more complete development.
It is common for children to have anxiety symptoms when parents separate, when they move from home, change schools or when some loved one dies, and therefore, in the face of these more traumatic situations, parents should be aware of the child’s behavior, checking if they are adapting to the situation, or if they are developing irrational and excessive fears.
In some cases, the child may have an excessive anxiety, which does not have an identified origin and their concerns do not disappear or improve over time, being indicated that the child is consulted by a pediatrician or child psychologist so that it is possible to develop strategies that help to face the moments of anxiety and stress.
The main symptoms
Young children usually have greater difficulty expressing what they are feeling and, in this way, they may not say that they are anxious, since they also do not understand what it is to be anxious.
However, there are some signs that can help parents identify an anxiety situation, such as:
- Be more irritable and tearful than usual;
- Have difficulty falling asleep;
- Wake up more often than normal at night
- Returning to sucking the finger or pee in the pants;
- To have frequent nightmares.
Opt-do children may be able to express what they are feeling, but often these feelings are not understood as anxiety and the child may end up expressing a lack of confidence and difficulty concentrating, for example, or then trying to avoid routine daily activities, such as going out with friends or going to school.
When these symptoms are mild and passengers there is usually no cause for concern, and they represent a situation of transient anxiety. However, if it takes more than a week to pass, parents or caregivers should be aware and try to help the child get through this phase.
Causes of childhood anxiety
Episodes of childhood anxiety have no specific cause, however some factors can increase the child’s likelihood of excessive anxiety, such as:
- A family background of anxiety;
- Timidity;
- Have experienced stressful events, such as the loss of a loved one;
- Changes in brain neurotransmitters;
- Female genre.
In addition, living in a stressful family environment, in which the child repeats the actions he sees at home, reinforce his behavior in the face of anxiety situations.
How to help the child control anxiety
When the child enters a chronic anxiety crisis, parents, caregivers and family members are very important to try to break the cycle and restore well-being. However, this task can be quite complicated and even the most well-meaning parents can end up making mistakes that aggravate anxiety.
Thus, the ideal is that whenever a possible situation of excessive or chronic anxiety is identified, a psychologist is consulted, to make a correct evaluation and receive guidance adapted to each case.
Still, some tips that can help manage the child’s anxiety include:
1. Don’t try to avoid the child’s fears
Children who are feeling anxiety usually have some fears, such as going out on the street, going to school or even talking to other people. In these situations, what should be done is not to try to spare the child and remove all these situations, because in this way, he will not be able to overcome his fears and will not create strategies to overcome his fear. In addition, when avoiding a certain situation, the child will understand that he has reasons to really want to avoid this situation, since the adult is also avoiding them.
However, the child should not be forced to face his fears, as excessive pressure can worsen the situation. Thus, what must be done is to take the situations of fear naturally and, whenever possible, show the child that it is possible to overcome this fear.
2. 2. Give value to what the child is feeling
In an attempt to minimize the fear of the child, it is relatively common that parents, or caregivers, try to tell the child that he should not worry about or that he does not need to be afraid, however, this type of phrases, although they are spoken with a positive purpose, can be evaluated by the child as a judgment, since they may find that what they are feeling is not right or does not make sense, for example.
In this way, the ideal is to talk to the child about their fears and what they are feeling, ensuring that they are on their side to protect and try to help overcome the situation. This type of attitude usually has a more positive impact, as it helps to strengthen the child’s psychological.
3. Try to decrease the period of anxiety
Another way to help the child cope with anxiety is to show that anxiety is a temporary feeling and that it disappears, even when it seems that it has no way of improving. Therefore, whenever possible, parents and caregivers should try to reduce the time of anxiety, which is usually greater before doing some activity. That is, imagining that the child is afraid to go to the dentist, parents can say that he needs to go to the dentist only 1 or 2 hours before, to prevent the child from getting this thought for a long time.
4. 4. Explore the situation that causes anxiety
Sometimes it can be helpful for the child to try to explore what they are feeling and expose the situation rationally. Thus, imagining that the child is afraid of going to the dentist, one can try to talk to the child about what he thinks the dentist does and what the importance in his life is. In addition, if the child is comfortable talking, one can also assume the worst that can happen in that situation and help the child to create a plan for this fear to happen.
Most of the time, the level of anxiety can be reduced when the child feels that they have a plan for the worst case scenario, giving him more confidence to overcome his fears.
5. . 5. Practice relaxing activities with the child
This is a classic, simple technique that can help the child to control their own levels of anxiety when they are alone. For this, one should teach the child some relaxing activities, which can help divert the thought from the fears he is feeling.
A good relaxation technique consists of taking a deep breath, inhaling for 3 seconds and exhaling for another 3, for example. But other activities like counting the number of boys with shorts or listening to music can help distract and better manage anxiety.
Also check how to adjust the child’s diet to help control anxiety.
