Helping Your Child with Fears and Worries 2nd Edition: A self-help guide for parents

Product Information

Your little one might be afraid of imaginary or magical things, or have big worries about real everyday things. They might be scared of the big bad wolf in the fairy tale, or of a barking dog down the road. Praise them for letting you know about what’s scaring them – this can help them to feel comfortable opening up to you. Anxiety is a word we use to describe feelings of worry, fear and panic. As well as these emotional feelings, people with anxiety might also experience physical (body) sensations such as a racing heart, breathing fast, sweaty hands, dry mouth and feeling shaky. Many people also have “what if” or negative thoughts when they are anxious. Worries related to being habitually bullied or experiencing regular conflict or distress either at home or school Really good book for helping a child with their anxiety, the chapters are a little lengthy but if you take the time to read it and do the examples then it’s worth it in the end!

Worries about what other people think of you or worries about being judged negatively and not feeling good enough But if your child's anxiety is starting to affect their wellbeing, they may need some help. What makes children anxious? Spend time with them. Do this every day, even if it's just a few minutes. Do things together that you both enjoy. Go for a walk, cook, eat, play — or just hang out. Find ways to smile and laugh together. This keeps the bond between you strong and positive. And it creates moments for kids to open up naturally.Tsabary says adults often think terms of dualities: positive or negative, success or failure, good or bad. These fixed ways of looking at the world can paralyze people and are inadvertently taught to children. practise simple relaxation techniques with your child, such as taking 3 deep, slow breaths, breathing in for a count of 3 and out for 3. This was recommended to me by a mental health professional for kids. It's a good book, but has limitations.

When a child feels really anxious, the feeling overpowers the part of their brain that thinks logically about risk. So, for example, Jain says if they are anxious to fly in a plane, and you say, "you drive in a car every day. And statistically, that's actually more dangerous than flying," to the child this logic doesn't matter. Worrying about 'what-if' questions can spiral out of control. Jain and Tsabary suggest the 'best case-worst case' scenario exercise to help a child more accurately assess risk and helps prevent them from "over-worrying." Approach – the fear of experiencing anxiety is often worse than the situation you are avoiding. Face your fear and see for yourself that the situation probably isn’t as bad as you are predicting Normalise that anxiety is a natural emotion, the physical sensations of anxiety can be unpleasant but it’s ok, it will pass and won’t cause any harm Children can feel anxious about different things at different ages. Many of these worries are a normal part of growing up.She says reframing helps "teach children to stop trying to become something they're not and shift to realizing the potential of what they already are."

Encourage your anxious child to write out the best thing that can happen in a certain situation, the worst thing that can happen and the most likely outcome. Jain says exploring different outcomes helps a child better assess the real probability of something happening. Encourage them to be mindful turn an empty tissue box into a "worry" box. Get your child to write about or draw their worries and "post" them into the box. Then you can sort through the box together at the end of the day or week Ask what's on their minds. Help kids label what they think and feel. They might not always have a lot to say. And they might not always want to talk about what's on their minds. But let kids know you're open to listening and talking any time. Withdrawn and uncommunicative or not wanting to be left alone at all- this may seem uncharacteristic or age inappropriate for some teenagers. For example, if your child is worried about going to a sleepover, it is natural to want to tell them not to go. However, this could mean your child feels that their anxiety will stop them from doing things.Lots of people experience worry and anxiety although for some people it can impact on everyday life and get in the way of school/college, socialising and even home life. The types of anxiety that are most common but cause a lot of distress include: Encourage, reward and praise a young person not to avoid; the more a young person avoids, the harder it becomes and the more anxious a young person will become. Instead, encourage the young person to face their fear- the more they face it, the easier it will become. You cannot avoid all the things that make you feel anxious so face your FEARs with confidence following these four steps; if you know a change, such as a house move, is coming up, prepare your child by talking to them about what is going to happen and why

It's common for preschool-age children to develop fears about things like animals, storms, water, monsters, heights and the dark.As well as talking to your child about their worries and anxiety, it's important to help them find solutions. Soothe and comfort. At times, kids and teens may feel overwhelmed by worry. In those moments, trying to talk it through isn't likely to help. It might help more to offer comfort and understanding. Remind them that you're there to help them through things that happen. Teach them to use calm breathing to relax their mind and body. Anxiety UK has a zero tolerance to abuse of any form. Messages with such content will not receive a response and your use of this service will be terminated if you use content that violates our zero tolerance policy. Furthermore, where relevant, details of any abusive message will be given to the police. Help them practice. When possible, help kids break a new thing into small steps. Let them practice one step at a time as they build toward their goal. Celebrate each success.