Did you notice some change in your child’s behavior? Is he feeling worried or fearful all the time? Then maybe your children are suffering from anxiety.
Nowadays, in our stressful world, many children are anxious at a very young age. So do you want to know how to help an anxious child?
How To Help An Anxious Child?
Sometimes, children who are anxious have a hard time coping with their emotions and behaving well. They may become frustrated, push away those around them, or shut down altogether. That’s why it’s important to teach your child effective coping skills that will help them regulate their emotions and respond appropriately in social situations.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of worry and fear that forms part of many children’s lives. It can be due to different kinds of problems, whether at home or school. They can feel anxious on the first day of school or at the approach of an exam.
Sometimes anxiety becomes a chronic issue. If you see that your child is feeling anxious every day, you need to seek help. But if you don’t want to consult a specialist, there are also ways to help your child at home.
Stop negative thoughts
Who doesn’t have negative thoughts nowadays? Even our little one has them. We live in a world of negativity; we saw it every day, at home, work, school, everywhere. People are always complaining and spreading negativity.
And if we are constantly thinking negatively, it will reflect on our children. So better encourage them, reassuring them, treating them with kindness. Compassion is essential so that they can feel the same towards other people, friends, and families.
Teach your child how to take deep breathe
If you found that your child is having symptoms of depression or anxiety, teach him how to breathe slowly and deeply. This will help to calm him. You can sit with him and start to count slowly so that he can do the breathe-in and breathe-out session.
Encourage him till he feels good, and his body is relaxed. If your child is still tense, you can hold him close to you. Like this, he can feel the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe.
Do this every day so that it becomes a habit.
Encourage your child to do something that calms him.
When you noticed that your children can’t control their anxiety or are too worried, try to encourage them to do something that calms them. For example, encourage them to read, watch comedy movies, or do sport.
Take them for a walk, listen to music, play with them or start drawing and painting. Those will help them a lot.
Help your child to face their fears.
Most parents try to protect their children from their fears, but it’s not always the right thing to do.
Experts have found that if we want to overcome fears, we have to face them. The more you avoid your children from doing things they are afraid of, the more their anxiety will increase.
Doing so will automatically make your child feel that there is something wrong. They will continually be scared of doing those things.
As parents, we have to tell them that things are going to be difficult in life. Some situations can be scary, but with perseverance, we can overcome anything. Try not to rush them or push them; otherwise, they will develop more fears, which could cause some more issues.
Take your child to a calm and relaxing place.
Before doing this, agree with your child about where they want to go. It could be their bedroom, their grandparent’s house, or a favorite place in nature that he likes. If he agrees, then take him to this place where he can feel relax.
Sometimes we think that our home is the place to be; when our children are anxious. But they can feel trapped like they are in some kind of box.
So, go out with them, feel the fresh air, go to a playground where they can amuse themselves, buy them cakes, candy, etc. This will make them feel happy.
Seek professional advice
If, after all this, you still see that your child still has symptoms of anxiety. Then he needs to consult a professional.
There are many forms of anxiety. Some chronic or severe conditions will need a professional to help them feel better. Usually, these treatments can involve talking therapy from a professional therapist for the whole family or putting your child on medication by a mental health professional.
The mental health professional will consult your children and give them the proper treatment to help them overcome their fears. In contrast, the therapist will have therapy sessions with the whole family and provide you with advice on how to support and coach your child at home to overcome their fears.
Conclusion
Our little one is constantly under pressure, and sometimes they are being told that they aren’t good enough. They don’t do well at school, are not smart enough, disturbing at home, etc.…..
What if, instead, we start to change our language and start understanding them. It can be challenging for parents to deal with these kinds of situations, but the good news is that we can all overcome them.
Let’s start to follow those strategies and empower our children so that they can have a better life without anxiety.
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