How to Care for Your Child Struggling with Anxiety
Anxiety is one of the most commonly diagnosed issues when it comes to mental health. And that's not just for adults—our little ones can also experience anxiety.
During the pandemic, more and more children have been experiencing anxiety. The past few years have been a time of uncertainty and have disrupted important routines that give children a sense of security. They also are more perceptive and have picked up on the pandemic-related fear and unease in adults around them.
Current events aside, there are ways you can help children who are experiencing anxiety. Let's look at how to recognize signs of anxiety in children and how to support them through it.
What to Watch Out For
Some symptoms of anxiety overlap with those that adults experience. However, they may present differently. Some key symptoms in children include:
● Complaining of stomach aches
● Being unusually clingy
● Easily irritable and inconsolable during outbursts
● Changes in eating habits
● Restlessness and difficulty sleeping, potentially with frequent bad dreams
● Bed-wetting
● Avoiding new situations
● Extreme reluctance to deviate from routine
Because our little ones don't always have the right words to tell us how they're feeling, they can't simply say, "I'm feeling anxious." Instead, they express their distress in other ways, like waking you up in the middle of the night because they can't sleep.
Pay attention to these signs, especially if it's out of the norm for your child or they don't have any other conditions that could cause it.
How to Support Children with Anxiety
Once you've recognized the symptoms or received a diagnosis for your child, it's important to help them through it right away. Without help, childhood anxiety can cause mental and physical health issues later in life. Fortunately, you can use some great strategies to help your child cope.
Practice Relaxation
It's helpful to get your child more relaxed before you can begin walking them through other coping mechanisms. Deep belly breathing is a great way to do this.
Sit or lie down somewhere comfortable together and practice breathing in and out slowly, feeling your belly rise when you inhale. Do this until they have calmed down.
Validate Their Feelings
One of the worst things you can do is tell your anxious child to "suck it up" or that it's not a big deal. Even though your child's worries may be irrational, they feel entirely rational to your child.
Tell them you know they're feeling uncomfortable, and these feelings are scary, but this is happening because of our "worry brain." It's not their fault, and they need to feel heard.
Help Them Be Brave
Once you've validated their feelings, help them be brave enough to face their fears. As much as we want to protect our children, we must teach them not to hide from every difficult situation. When you don't help them face their fears, you teach them to avoid the difficult thing, which can become a problem for them later in life.
So tell them that it's okay to feel scared, but they're capable of doing hard things, and you'll be right there to walk them through it.
Build Confidence
Positive reinforcement is a great way to build confidence in your anxious child. Reward them when they make progress, even if it's something small, like letting them pick the takeout place for dinner.
Remember that progress always happens in little steps, so encouraging them with each step forward will help them gain confidence over time.
See a Therapist
Last but not least, seeing a mental health professional can be beneficial in helping your anxious child. A therapist can give you both important tools to cope with anxiety—some for them to self-soothe and some for you to help them along the way.
If your child struggles with anxiety, you don't have to go it alone. Reach out to a mental health professional and get started on a path to peace.
Click here for more information on Child Counseling.