When your child is anxious, it can feel like the world has flipped upside down. And it can be hard for parents to know how to help. The first step is understanding that your child’s anxiety is not their fault. It is caused by a combination of factors including genetics, brain physiology, temperament, environmental influences and past traumatic experiences.
The second step is realizing that anxiety is a normal part of the human experience and that there are ways to manage it. Children can learn to recognize and control their anxious thoughts and behaviors by practicing specific strategies such as mindfulness. This technique helps kids bring their attention back to the present moment and away from the “what ifs.” This can be as simple as focusing on your breath for a few minutes.
Avoidance is also a big problem for children with anxiety. They may start to avoid social events, dogs, school or airplanes because these things make them anxious. Unfortunately, this only makes their anxiety worse. This is because avoiding a situation triggers the flight part of the fight-flight-freeze response, which causes your child to feel tense and anxious.
Another way to keep your child’s anxiety from getting out of control is by providing encouragement and support. They need to know that you believe in them and that they can overcome their fears. It’s also helpful to tell them that you have felt nervous or anxious in your life, too. This can help kids realize that feeling anxious is nothing to be ashamed of and that they have a strong, resilient person inside them waiting to be freed.
Finally, medication may be necessary for some kids with severe anxiety. This is especially true if they aren’t making progress with talk therapy alone or their anxiety is impacting their ability to function in everyday life. Parents are often uncomfortable with the idea of their child taking pills, but experts warn that there is no reason to be afraid of medication for children with anxiety.
Childhood should be a time of excitement and exploration, but for too many kids, it is filled with stress, fear and worry. Anxiety is common and can be very dangerous, but it is also treatable. With these simple solutions, you can help your child break free from anxiety and live a happy, fulfilling life.