Shweta Gupta
Natural Healing Advisor
07:09 PM | 23-03-2020
What is anxiety?
The word ‘anxiety’ is commonly associated with the experience/feeling of nervousness, distress, apprehension, worry and may even have physical manifestations like sweating, nausea, tremors, headaches etc. Simply put, anxiety is our response to a trigger, which is usually something we are apprehensive about or scared of. The trigger may be real or imaginary.
Interestingly, the physiological responses associated with anxiety are similar to the way our body responds to fear i.e. the flight-or-fight response. These essentially are a set of bodily changes (like increased heartbeat and blood pressure) that assist you in fighting or escaping as soon as a threat or danger is perceived.
Is anxiety normal? Even in children?
Anxiety, to some extent, is not only normal it is adaptive and has functional value. For example, if there is a real, physical threat in front of you then the feeling of anxiety will prompt you to do something about it (fight or escape). The threat may not be physical for example the fear of failure. The anxiety associated with the same pushes the student to work hard for his exams.
It is perfectly normal and expected for children to show fearful and anxious behaviour – especially when they come across new situations and experiences. The fact that it is so normal, may actually distract the care-givers from giving it more serious thought when they must! But then anxiety is expected and normal at specific times in development. Like when a toddler displays signs of being afraid of darkness most parents know intuitively that it’s a normal fear that many children exhibit while growing up. It’s normal!
When to worry about anxiety in children?
Imagine, if the same child who was afraid of the dark at the age 2 refuses to enter a dark room or insists on sleeping with the lights on even at the age of 9 years, he also refuses to enter dark places like a movie hall or wakes up sweating in the middle of the night because of dark dreams. The anxiety now may not seem to be ‘normal’ or ‘natural’.
Anxiety issues in children are often overlooked or commonly misinterpreted as behavioural issues. Children may come across to be clingy, fussy, irritable, nervous, stubborn, argumentative, rude etc. Some may also be quiet, aloof, compliant and their difficulties stand a chance to get missed. Parents need to be aware that anxiety could be the underlying cause behind such “behavioural issues”.
It helps to differentiate between “normal anxieties” from an “anxiety problem”. Some of the key parameters in judging the difference are:
|
NORMAL |
WORRY SOME |
|
Temporary and expected according to age or the given situation eg. Children from about the age of 8 months up to 3 years are expected to show distress upon separation from parents. |
Prolonged and unusual for the given age and situation. Eg. 10-year-old avoids social situations. |
|
Does not interfere with daily function. |
Intense feelings interfere with daily functioning. |
|
Reassurance or assistance helps copes up and settle down in some time. |
Inability to cope up despite repeated reassurance. |
|
Specific to a particular trigger. |
May get diffused or generalized to a larger context. |
|
Does not cause much distress. |
Very distressful, may even be accompanied with physical signs like headaches, stomach aches etc. |
|
Does not require professional help. |
Professional intervention might be needed. |
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Signs of anxiety problem in children
Physical
Emotional
Behavioural
As most of these signs are displayed by most children at various stages of growing up it may be very confusing for parents to differentiate. It helps to evaluate on the parameters to differentiate normal from problematic. It is a good idea to maintain a behaviour log in order to observe patterns/associations and to judge frequency.
What causes anxiety problem?
In the present day scenario, the factors that can be attributed to causing anxiety problems in children are multi-dimensional. From environmental pollution to lifestyle to the changing social fabric and informational overload the list is endless. While parents/caregivers may not be in a position to control factors like pollution or genetics, it helps to have a holistic approach to prevent or deal with childhood anxiety problems.
How can parents help?
Anxiety problems in children can be treated – early identification and intervention can help avoid future difficulties like school drop-outs, feeling of low self-esteem, social isolation etc. and even progression into more serious conditions like phobia, panic attacks etc.
Dealing with an anxious child might be an overwhelming experience. Parents often find themselves feeling desperate to help their child not feel anxious. While parents cannot stop the child from feeling anxious, they can help the child manage his anxiety.
Discussed above are a few steps that can help prevent or deal with anxiety in children. However, seek professional help in case the situation is seriously affecting the child’s daily function or well-being. Also, do remember a child struggling with anxiety issues isn’t really an indicator either of poor parenting or of behavioural issues with the child!
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