How to Help a Child with Anxiety – Expert Tips for Parents

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health concerns for children and their parents. Especially right now, when our children and teens are not attending in-person school, and not hanging out with their friends in person. But how can you, as a parent, tell if your child’s anxiety is interfering with their everyday life? What are the common signs you need to watch out for and how can you help your child with anxiety?

Take Our Quick Anxiety Quiz – 14 Key Questions to Ask

Here are some ways you can determine if your child has anxiety and if anxiety is interfering with their everyday life.Does your child often complain about headaches, tummy aches, or not feeling well, and there is no medical reason?

  • Is your child often coming home and has not eaten their lunch or snacks?
  • Does your child refuse to use the bathrooms except at home?
  • Does your child have trouble falling asleep?
  • Does your child talk about not wanting to go to school?
  • Does your child not have any school friends?
  • Does your child have frequent meltdowns or is overly emotional?
  • Does your child ask a lot of “what if” questions or talks often about their fears and worries?
  • Does your child repeatedly erase or restart their school assignments stating it’s not neat enough or that it’s not perfect?
  • Does your child avoid social situations that most other children enjoy – going to parties, joining a team, or even learning a new skill like riding a bike?
  • Have teachers mentioned that your child seems nervous working in groups or speaking in class?
  • Does your child change clothes several times a day out of nervousness or because they sweat a lot?
  • Does your child experience shortness of breath or a racing heart for no apparent reason?
  • Does your child worry excessively about events that are highly unlikely to happen? (the bus crashing, your death, a fire at school or at home)
  • How many questions did you say yes to? The higher the point total, the greater the likelihood that your child is showing signs of anxiety.

What Can YOU as a Parent do to Help Your Child with Anxiety?

Pay attention to and validate your child’s feelings.

Start using words to describe your child’s emotions. Help your child develop an emotional vocabulary so they can label and express how they are feeling. When you validated how your child is feeling. they experience a reduction in the intensity of their emotions. Reducing the intensity of the emotion allows them to move through the meltdown faster and it opens your child up to problem solving or pushing through a difficult situation or task. By validating the emotional experience of your children, you, as a parent, can help them learn how to handle emotions that can lead to tantrums, meltdowns, or conflict within the family. Helping your child or teen learn to self-regulate is one of the most important life skills a child must learn. Validation allows your child to feel heard, understood, and accepted.

Read more: https://family-therapy.ca/blog/how-to-help-a-child-with-anxiety-expert-tips-for-parents/

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