anxiety written in scrabble tiles

So many children are anxious about one thing or another. They have worries. They have fears. We think that our children will grow out of them and many children will. But how do you know when the anxiety is a problem and it won’t just go away? Parents can’t just ignore it – mainly because it will have an effect on the child’s school life, their friendships and wanting to engage in activities. Is identifying anxiety in children easy? Do we know what to look for?

Ways of Identifying Anxiety In Children

Look out for these signs to see if your child is suffering from anxiety:

  1. Your children will want reassurance about what is going to happen and even when we try and give reassurance to them,  they will keep asking for more. They will ask lots of questions about something in particular and keep on repeating themselves. Questions such as ’What’s going to happen?’ or ‘What if x happens?’
  2. They may have a negative thought that gets stuck in their head that they can’t get rid of it.

If you can catch the anxiety early then you can give your child the strategies to deal with it. As a parent you can:

  • Gently encourage your child to face the situation.
  • Start with small steps to confront the fear.
  • Reward them regardless of how brave they have been whilst facing their fear.
  • Let them know that they can talk about the worry with you and you won’t judge them.

I hope that these tips help you to recognise anxiety in your child and start trying to deal with it. Feeling anxious isn’t pleasant, especially if they are having panic attacks, but parents can do something to help their child tackle their anxiety and face the future with more confidence. Confronting and overcoming the anxiety is not always a short term fix. It can take months or years to overcome. As a parent you need to be patient and go with your child’s pace however slowly that may be.

If your child is suffering from anxiety please get in touch with me.

If you are not sure if your child has social anxiety or is shy then why not get some clarity by reading this article.