Anxiety: 5 ways to help your children
Many parents often wonder how it is possible for a tiny person to become anxious. Experts say that children, like adults, can experience anxiety at any age in life.
Anxiety is a feeling of emotional or physical tension that can be caused by an event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry or nervous. It is actually a normal reaction of a person's body in the face of a challenge, and in short bursts, anxiety can be positive (such as when it helps us avoid danger or complete a task within a deadline). But when stress lasts for a long time, it can damage our health.
What causes anxiety in a child?
Many factors can cause stress in a child, such as school or social environment. Also major life changes that may be caused by a divorce, a move or even a major loss of a loved one are stressors. The stress of a parent can also cause stress in children, but the biggest risk to children is modern lifestyles. According to the American Psychological Association, teenagers today are just as stressed as adults, but even young children are more stressed than we think.
Is my child experiencing stress?
Anxiety in children is often difficult to identify as they usually "somatise" it. So childhood anxiety often appears with a physical symptom, for example a child may report feeling unwell or having frequent headaches and stomach aches (assuming anything abnormal has been ruled out by their doctor). If again these symptoms worsen before a test, this means that the child may be experiencing anxiety.
We may again notice negative changes in the child's behavior such as:
- Sleep disturbances
- Nightmares
- Frequent headaches, stomach aches (without pathological cause)
- Isolation and withdrawal from friends
- Absence from daily activities
- Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting)
5 useful tips to protect your child from stress
- No to busy schedules
Let children have time to play, even time to be bored. Children need to understand that life is not just about the activities that fill it up. Learning to manage themselves off schedule is very important for their emotional and mental development.
- Take your time!
It's great to feel creative and excited, of course, but stress can kill. Slow down, slow down and don't be in such a rush to get everything done. Children will feel your presence more relaxed and will follow your lead.
- No pressure.
Encourage your child to be creative with whatever hobbies are important to them. That's as far as it goes though. Don't push for a "win", just let them have fun.
- Yes to nature, no to screens.
Children need more contact with nature and less screen time. Nature helps children to relax, decompress and has a positive effect on their psychology. It may be easier to go to the cinema or watch a film together, but try to give preference to activities for children outside and in nature, an adventure such as hiking, a bike ride or even a visit to a museum.
- Have fun!
Just like you, your children need to talk about what's on their minds, hear from the important people in their lives and laugh, banishing stress away . Laughter helps children decompress from the normal stress of everyday life. Make time to chat with your child about their day. Connect with your child. Just by being present you make them feel safe and less anxious about everything.
