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How Parents Can Help Anxious Children
Seek help. When a young child is having severe fright or anxiety symptoms, a check up with the pediatrician is in order right away. The physician can rule out whether there is a physical cause for the child's feelings and work to treat it. Also, he or she may be able to provide you with a referral to a child anxiety specialist. Talk to the school. A confidential meeting with the principal, the teacher, and the school nurse can be very helpful. Many elementaryschools these days have dealt with children with a wide range of emotional struggles and school phobia is one of them. Together you develop a plan of action to help your child feel comfortable while at school. Read everything you can. There are some very good books written on the subject of children and anxiety. You can search for books on Amazon.com and read reviews of what other parents have written to help decide if a particular book is right for your specific situation. You might even find useful books right at the local library. Speak to other caregivers and parents. It can be really beneficial to be able to share experience and advice with other parents who are experiencing the same thing. Reaching out to others is also a great way to help you realize you're not alone in your ordeal. You may find other parents of children struggling with anxiety at online forums. Listen to your child but do not condone the anxious behavior. For instance, if your child has anxiety about getting on the bus in the morning, it can be tempting to give in to his or her fears. After all she may cling to you, cry, throw a temper tantrum or complain of a belly ache. Make getting on the bus a priority, and work with the school to make it a smooth and uneventful transition for your child. If necessary, request the help of the bus driver in the morning to help get your child make it onto the bus. If the situation requires it, you can have someone from the school help walk with your child to class. As well, make sure your child knows her teacher is a "safe person," one who she can go to immediately if she starts to feel frightened or anxious. If you give in to your child's anxieties and allow her to stay home from school, you only serve to reinforce that her anxiety that school is indeed scary and something to be avoided. So while addressing the anxiety and working with your child is challenging and takes a lot of effort on your part, by maintaining a regular schedule where going to school is the rule and not a choice, eventually, it will get much easier. Panic attacks in children rarely go away on their own. Left untreated, they can lead to ongoing struggles with making friends, self esteem and school. The good news is that early intervention and doing self help techniques at home has really good results. Although it can be frustrating and difficult to deal with a school age child wit anxiety, please realize that your effort and determination will have your son or daughter soon on the road to recovery. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com You can help your anxious child. For more information on Panic attacks in children, please see curepanicattacksinchildren.com. |
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