5 Ways To Reduce Anxiety In Children

Children can experience very intense anxiety because they do not have the same resources to cope with it as adults. That is why we need our help. In this article, we will discuss some strategies that can help reduce anxiety in children.

The first step is to assess whether the child is really suffering from anxiety, because it is a complicated feeling with many causes. It can be very frustrating for children, since they are not old enough to control it.

What causes anxiety in children?

There are many different things that can cause anxiety in children, such as responsibilities, interpersonal relationships and schoolwork. A common cause of anxiety is separations and divorces.

When children begin to leave home alone, either to visit relatives or to start school, they may experience separation anxiety. In these situations, what begins as a superficial tension can turn into an intense anxiety, when there is nothing that can diminish the sense of danger the child receives when it is separated from the protective parent.

Another source of anxiety is contact with strangers (an idea sometimes referred to as “stranger danger”).

The important thing is to know how to detect if a child is suffering from clinical anxiety or not. This can be difficult, because most children experience a degree of separation anxiety and xenophobia without this having to mean that they have a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Other, and more serious causes of anxiety are abuse, a violent or dysfunctional home, the death of a loved one, a divorce or a move. All of the things mentioned above can lead to anxiety that a child cannot handle on their own.

How to reduce anxiety in children

As we have said before, the first step is to make sure that your child is actually suffering from anxiety, and not just superficial stress. If you identify the wrong problem, you can rob the child of the help he needs, or a possible challenge that can help him develop. Therefore, you must first identify the problem and the cause. It is very important to pay close attention to how the child expresses his feelings.

If you are dealing with a single incident, the most important thing is to try to talk through it with the child. Although it may not always seem that way, children are often better at thinking rationally than we like to think. Talking to your child can give you some helpful answers. In this way, you and your child can come up with a solution. This method is great because it links reflection and reasoning to something positive.

Techniques you can try

• Rational thinking is a good place to start. Talking and reasoning with the child will help it to concentrate, relax and create a psychological separation to the problem.
• If the child is unable to find the right words to describe the feelings, try to come up with a story about how he or she feels. It can be complicated for children to describe feelings they do not know before, and that is why they need the help of adults.
• As we mentioned in the first point, relaxation is very important. You can try different relaxation techniques or to objectively analyze the problems.
• Be a role model to express emotions. Children learn a lot through imitation. Thus, by describing how you feel, you can help them expand their emotional vocabulary and ability to express emotions.

In summary, here are the steps you should take to identify anxiety in children:

• Keep an eye on physical and mental symptoms.
• Talk to your child about the problem.
• Find a solution together.
• Use techniques that help the child get in a better mood.
• If the problem persists and it seems more serious than normal stress and anxiety, consult a specialist.

Children can be anxious about many things, both real and imaginary. Thus, adults have a responsibility to teach children about positive ways to deal with the emotions that arise when encountering these perceived threats. Nowadays, children have a lot to think about, which is why they need us to show them how to handle it in a healthy way.