Anxiety in Children

If you are a parent, you know that no matter what age they are, your children will deal with anxiety. Unfortunately, this might be something that happens all throughout their formative years and in some cases well into adulthood. The question is however is something that can be fixed? One thing to think about is in order to hope to help your child, you first have to figure out what the cause of anxiety is, and this is far more difficult than you might believe.

Think back when you were a child. I'm certain that there were things that you didn't tell your parents because you didn't want to appear weak. I know for a fact that there were a lot of things that I didn't tell my folks regarding my school because I didn't want them to worry. Now, take this feeling and think about what a child faces in today's society: not only do they have to be concerned with things that happened in school and in their life, they also have to be careful regarding what goes on on the Internet. With social media becoming such an interwoven part of our lives, what used to be typical schoolyard bullying, has now migrated to the online world as well. I'm sure we can all think of court cases in recent memory that have happened because it bullied child sought the only way out they felt they could.

So what's the first step? Obviously, you'll want to talk to your teen or child. If they are acting out, don't automatically berate them. Instead, ask them what the problem is and then just sit back and listen. As adults, we often give advice to the younger generation on everything from money to relationships. We do this of course because we don't want them to make some of the same mistakes we did. But, this can in fact be the wrong thing to do. Often, what is needed is a friendly ear for them to vent to, without "fear" of judgment. So the first step is just to listen. Let them tell you in their own time, with their own words, what the problem is. And be prepared for it to be a multi-part problem, as anxiety symptoms in children usually have several different causes, both internal (how they look at themselves) and external (how they are perceived by their peers).

Then, of course as they grow their body changes and that will make them feel anxious and self-conscious as well. As you can see, there's no shortage of different types of anxiety symptoms for children. So, can you fix it?

The thing to realize is it's not something that you can fix with a doctor's prescription or any of the other quick fixes that you might know of. The only thing you can do is talk to your child about what they're feeling and let them guide the conversation. Above all, anxiety symptoms in children can be traced back to them feeling as though no one is listening to them. So if you make a conscious effort to just let them explain in their own words how they are feeling and why they are feeling anxious, you will find it much easier to help them.

Remember, anxiety in children is something that we all had to deal with but most likely simply forgotten as we gotten older. If you want to help fix this problem, you need to start by just listening. From there you and your child can develop a specific strategy for dealing with and eventually conquering their anxiety.symptoms of separation anxiety in children