6 Things You Can Do to Help an Anxious Child
It’s a normal reflex for adults to immediately help a child if he or she is in distress or is having difficulty solving something on his or her own. But do you know there are better things to do to help your child cope with these feelings and empower them?
All people experience anxiety, even kids. But like adults, kids can learn how to cope with anxiety too. If your child fears dogs or gets a stomachache every time you bring him or her to the park and play in a jumping castle hire Brisbane inflatable with other kids, you might want to do the following tips:
Respect What They Feel
When you see your child in distress about something, do not dismiss how they feel by saying things like: “Don’t worry about it,” or “That’s not a big deal,” or “You will be fine,” or “There are others who have bigger problems than that.” These statements will leave your child thinking that his or her feelings are wrong.
Instead, respect their feelings and validate them. Instead, you can say: “You sound like you’re really anxious right now,” or “I’d feel a bit like that too if I face a lot of people on stage,” or “Doing this is tough, but I know you can do it!”
Show Your Child How to Cope
It’s one thing to just say something to your child. It’s another thing to show them. Your child can cope with anxiety better if you lead by example.
Let Children Face Their Fears, Not Avoid Them.
Another tendency by parents is to avoid scare triggers of their children. That is not validating their feelings but empowering them. For example, if your child is afraid of a dog, don’t let him or her avoid the animal every time. Instead encourage your child, find time when you can bond with one dog to teach him or her about it, and let him or her face her fears with you beside. If you do not do this, the fear cycle will only persist and repeat itself.
Let Your Child Learn Deep Breathing
As with adults, deep breathing can greatly calm a child who is suffering from anxiety. A fun way to do it is by telling the children it’s like smelling and cooling a pizza. You imagine inhaling the pizza smell and blowing it (releasing air from the mouth) because it’s hot! Another thing is if you show how to do it properly. Do the deep breathing exercises together until your child gets the hang of it?
Let them do something to make them calm.
Find an activity that will make your child calm when anxiety kicks in. Your kid can write in a diary, color a page, paint, listen to music, watch an episode of his or her favorite show, or read a book, or watch a movie.
Find professional help.
If your child is suffering from prolonged anxiety, consult your pediatrician first. If your kid’s anxiety is preventing him or her from going to school or doing activities that normal kids do like going to the park or playing with others in a jumping castle hire Brisbane inflatable, you have all the more reason to seek a doctor or therapist.
Anxiety disorders can be treated. As a parent, the first thing that you have to do to get your child treated is to recognize that he or she has it in the first place. For normal anxiety, you can always try the above-mentioned tips. But do not hesitate to contact a doctor if you feel like it is something more.
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