Child anxiety: signs and how to control

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 participating in various activities, it can be a more that needs to be addressed and addressed to allow for more complete development.

It is common for the child to show symptoms of anxiety when the parents separate, when they move house, change school or when a loved one dies, and therefore, in the face of these more traumatic situations, parents should be attentive to the child's behavior, checking if you are adapting to the situation, or if you are developing irrational and excessive fears.

Usually when the child feels safe, protected and supported, he is calmer and calmer. Talking to the child, looking into their eyes, trying to understand their point of view helps to understand their own feelings, contributing to their development.

Main symptoms of anxiety

Young children generally find it more difficult to express what they are feeling and, therefore, may not say that they are anxious, since they themselves do not understand what it is to be anxious.

However, there are some signs that can help parents identify an anxiety situation, such as:

• Being more irritable and tearful than normal; Having difficulty falling asleep; Waking up more often than usual during the night; Sucking my finger or peeing my pants again; Having frequent nightmares.

Older children, on the other hand, 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 else trying to avoid routine daily activities, like going out with friends or going to school.

When these symptoms are mild and transient there is usually no cause for concern, and represent a situation of transient anxiety. However, if it takes more than 1 week to pass, parents or caregivers should be on the lookout and try to help the child overcome this phase.

How to help your child control anxiety

When the child goes into a chronic anxiety crisis, parents, caregivers and family members are very important in trying to break the cycle and restore well-being. However, this task can be quite complicated and even the most well-intentioned 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, consult a psychologist, to make a correct assessment and receive guidance adapted to each case.

Still, some tips that can help control your child's anxiety include:

1. Don't try to avoid the child's fears

Children who are experiencing 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 that way, he will not be able to overcome his fears and will not create strategies to overcome his fear. In addition, by avoiding a certain situation, the child will understand that he has reasons to really want to avoid that situation, since the adult is also avoiding them.

However, the child should also not be forced to face his fears, as excessive pressure can make the situation worse. Thus, what should be done is to take fear situations naturally and, whenever possible, show the child that it is possible to overcome this fear.

2. Give value to what the child is feeling

In an attempt to minimize the child's fear, it is relatively common for parents or caregivers to try to tell the child that they should not worry or need not be afraid, however, these types of phrases, although they are said with a positive purpose, can be assessed by the child as a judgment, as they may feel that what they are feeling is not right or does not make sense, for example.

Thus, the ideal is to talk to the child about his fears and what he is feeling, ensuring that he is on his side to protect him and try to help overcome the situation. This type of attitude generally has a more positive impact, as it helps to strengthen the child's psychological.

3. Try to decrease the anxiety period

Another way to help your child cope with anxiety is to show that anxiety is a temporary feeling and that it disappears, even when it seems that there is no way to improve. Therefore, whenever possible, parents and caregivers should try to reduce the time of anxiety, which is usually greater before doing any activity. That is, imagining that the child is afraid to go to the dentist, parents can say that they need to go to the dentist only 1 or 2 hours before, to prevent the child from having this thought for a long time.

4. Explore the situation that causes anxiety

Sometimes it can be helpful for the child to try to explore what he is feeling and to expose the situation in a rational way. So, imagining that the child is afraid to go to the dentist, one can try to talk to the child about what he thinks the dentist does and what is the importance in his life. 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 in case this fear happens.

Most of the time, the level of anxiety can be reduced when the child feels he has a plan for the worst case scenario, giving him more confidence to overcome his fears.

5. Practice relaxing activities with the child

This is a classic, simple technique that can help your child control their own levels of anxiety when they are alone. For this, the child should be taught some relaxing activities, which can help to 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 in shorts or listening to music can help to distract and better control anxiety.

Also check out how to adjust your child's diet to help control anxiety.