What Parents Need to Know About Treating Childhood Anxiety
Is your child suffering from anxiety or panic attacks? Are you concerned that your child isn't happy? Children who have anxiety problems usually have low self-esteem. They are distressed and don't fulfill their potential. The quality of life suffers for kids and teenagers with anxiety disorders.
You can learn how to help your child overcome anxiety! Treating childhood anxiety isn't an easy process, but it doesn't have to be difficult, either. Treatment involves relieving the symptoms and attacking the source of the problem. The source could be social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, adjustment disorder, a specific phobia, or generalized anxiety.
Treating childhood anxiety usually involves therapy. Many experts recommend that parents arrange cognitive-behavior sessions with child therapists. These sessions are focused on teaching children and parents skills for changing fearful thoughts. Some techniques involve play therapy which provides a way for kids to express their feelings in creative ways.
There are certain techniques that you can do with your child to provide him/her relief starting now!
• First things first, always reassure your child. They need a lot of hugs and assurance that they are safe. You shouldn't just shrug off your child's worries or fears. You should acknowledge them as "real" and not "silly". Trivializing a kid's fears, no matter how silly they might seem, won't help with their anxiety at all.
• If you don't know what the fears are, encourage your little one to discuss them with you. Suggest ways that your child can express fears, such as having him/her draw pictures of scary things. Make sure that you do this in a comfortable setting during the day. If a child feels as if he/she has somebody to talk to, the anxiety is lessened.
• Make sure your child is always in a positive, comfortable environment. If there is always some sort of conflict going on at your house, the children will suffer. Even if you try to hide your own problems from them, they will still pick up on your stress, depression, tension, or anger. Try to be positive and upbeat whenever you're with your kid.
• Teach the child how to do relaxation techniques like deep breathing and counting to 10. Self-soothing statements are also helpful. These should always be stated using positive words and not negative. A positive statement would be "I am okay. I am brave. I can do this!" a negative statement would be "I'm not going to fail! I won't mess up." Even though the statements mean the same, positive words have much more power than negative ones.
• Children who live in hectic environments are more susceptible to anxiety than kids who have consistency in their lives. Anxious kids don't cope well with a disorganized family lifestyle. Develop a schedule and make sure your whole family follows it. If you ever have to change the schedule, make sure you tell your kid in advance. Always explain new situations when they arise.
• Parents should always take care of the basic needs of a child. They need to make sure that their children aren't hungry or tired. During the evenings, establish a routine consisting of quiet activities such as talking, reading, taking a bath, etc. This will help your child gradually relax. Limit the amount of caffeine and sweets you give to your little kid.
• Children should be encouraged with "feel good" activities, such as reading a book, playing with friends, making an arts and craft project, drawing, etc. Spend time with your child every day as he/she works on a fun, positive activity. This will give them something on which they can place their focus. When their focus is on a positive activity, they won't be so anxious or afraid.
Treating childhood anxiety isn't difficult if you follow these techniques. Still, there is a lot more to learn and understand about childhood anxiety. Extensive treatment may be required, depending on how severe your child's anxiety or panic disorder is.
Author Bio:
Jason Ellis is an up and coming web author who has been showing readers for years how to overcome anxiety naturally. His strongest expertise deals with controlling a condition known hyperhidrosis(chronic excessive sweating). For years, Jason has researched proven treatments for sweaty palms and man other solutions to excess sweating.