Childhood Anxiety
Childhood anxiety is a mental health issue that shows up in a child's life in several different ways. Many times it is because children with big feelings don’t know how to pinpoint what is wrong, so they act out. Here are just a few of the main(potential) signs of childhood anxiety:
Anger. Getting mad at everyone.
Poor sleeping habits.
Defiance against requests from parents, siblings, friends, or teachers.
Avoiding specific tasks, people, or places.
Not paying attention.
Being negative about everything, or something specific.
Helping Kids Cope with Childhood Anxiety
Start by communicating with the nervous child about their “big feelings” and ask open-ended questions about what is bothering them (vs asking if they are okay, which is easy for them to simply say “yeah”).
Even well-meaning caregivers can fall into a negative cycle of trying to shelter kids from any nervousness they have. So instead of simply removing the stress trigger that makes them afraid - help them overcome it by encouraging them to talk about what scares them and how they can not be scared.
A funny example can be found in the first Randall the Blue Spider book called Randall the Blue Spider Goes Surfing, available online now.
Another example of how to cope with childhood anxiety if a child is scared of monsters: Talk to them about how monsters are not real and if they still think so, you can get some “monster spray” with a water bottle to spray on the door each night (yes, I speak from experience - this worked to help Ryeson cope with going to bed when he was three-years-old).
Another series of books we love which deal with childhood anxiety is A Little SPOT of Emotion Box Set (8 Books: Anger, Anxiety, Peaceful, Happiness, Sadness, Confidence, Love, & Scribble Emotion) by Diane Alber. This set of 8 different books can help kids with anxiety, anger, confidence, and more.
Make sure to communicate with your children’s teachers about anxiety and create a plan together to help.
Let us know what has worked for your family for helping kids cope with childhood anxiety!?!