Hello guys, Gum here.
Dealing with anxiety in children is far harder than anxiety in teens. Children don’t understand things easily, some of them don’t even know what panic is, which is an important phrase in medical psychology world.
Before knowing 6 ways to deal with anxiety in children, you must know things that distinguish children from other ages of people, and here they are:
- Children often use imagination.
- Children don’t know much.
- The outside world is still a new thing to children.
Now, let’s see 6 ways to deal with anxiety in children:
- Tell them others’ similar anxiety stories. Of course these stories must have a good ending (a.k.a. things they’re worrying didn’t happen anyway). And please notice the similarity of the story with what happens to your children. Children more likely interested to hear stories with same location, and same condition; rather than stories with different place from where they are now.
Why? Because their highly-imaginative mind can create a parrying statement to what you’ve said. For example, if you told a good-ending anxiety story of a boy with exactly same condition with your boy, but the story takes place in Philadelphia; your boy can create a parrying statement like “but he lives in Philadelphia, and I’m in Iowa. What happened to him will never happens to me”.
Source: WIkipedia - Be close to them, but don’t treat them like you’re the only person who cares about them. Do you know some kids who are crying in their really first day of school? Why are they crying? Because they think the only people who cares about them are their parents, whom they don’t see in the class. And in some cases, these kids don’t have any friends before their first day of school, which can be really stressful for them.
- Listen to their “this is how my day going…”, and really, be a good listener. Everyone in this world love someone who listen when they speak, so do children. Listen carefully to what they’re speaking, and ask some questions (not interrogative questions, just easy-to-answer questions) about what they said before.
Source: Fotopedia - Introduce them to some new activities. The key to relieve from anxiety is to live in the present. Having many hobbies distracts children from their imaginary thoughts.
- Let them make friends, treat them like normal kids. Please, never bring a big first aid box anywhere near your kids; they don’t like that. Instead, you can see them from a far place (with first aid box ready), and see them happily make new friends; really, it’s a great feeling.
Some Tips from Me
I have some tips to deal with anxiety in children:
- Never let them watch horror and thriller movies.
- Never make yourself looks “violent” and “harmful” to them.
- Don’t talk about their future (jobs, etc.) until they become teens.
- Never stress them with any target made by yourself, they choose what they want.
Final Words
Well, concluded 6 ways to deal with anxiety in children are:
– Tell them others’ similar anxiety stories
– Don’t position yourself as the only person who cares about them
– Be a good listener
– Give them some hobbies
– Treat them like normal kids
These are the ways, do these seem right? Do you disagree with some of them? Write your thoughts, experiences, anything.
Source: Academic Concepts Regards, Gum Fard.
The Dealing Anxiety Blog 