Children’s Anxiety

One big problem that many children have is anxiety.
They feel anxiety
when they go to school
when they are in front of a new situation
when they meet a dog
when they visit a new place.
Anxiety is conquering their life and is limiting their actions and possibilities of the life.
They cry,
they are refusing to go to new places
they are staying only with their parents avoiding playing with other children
The situation is really stressful the same for parents and for children
Why is it happening?
Stranger, social
According to Cutting[i] social phobics do not fear the crowd but the fact that they may be judged negatively,
feel may be judged negatively (rejection)
they do not have enough time
Factors for creation
Poor coping skills
(e.g., rigidity/inflexible problem solving, denial, avoidance, impulsivity, extreme self-expectation, negative thoughts, affective instability, and inability to focus on problems) are associated with anxiety.
Anxiety is also linked and perpetuated by the person’s own pessimistic outcome expectancy and how they cope with feedback negativity
social family factors
Social risk factors for anxiety include a history of trauma (e.g., physical, sexual or emotional abuse or assault)
early life experiences and parenting factors (e.g., rejection, lack of warmth, high hostility, harsh discipline, high parental negative affect, discouragement of emotions, poor socialization, poor attachment, and child abuse and neglect),
What can we do to eliminate the problem?
we have to give acceptance
communicate effectively
positive modelling to new stressful conditions
give the opportunity for many ways to test an drive its abilities
through play
though drawing
through stories
Prevention
can help play therapy
sand tray anthropocentric S.core play
filial play therapy
art therapy
narration and writing techniques
change of the behavior and emotional state of the parents and the families
stability
love
connection
communication
not higher expectations than those that the child can handle
expectations that are nor connected with the children needs
[i] Thomas B, Hardy S, Cutting P , eds. (1997). Mental Health Nursing: Principles and Practice. London: Mosby. ISBN 978-0-7234-2590-8.
Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash
