3 Tips for Bringing your Child Inner Peace |
Posted: October 19, 2017 |
Anxiety can be crippling for people of all ages, but it's especially difficult for children and adolescents. At the early stages of a child's development, they lack the rationality and coping skills to adequately process their feelings. Understanding children's anxiety can be challenging for any parent to handle, as the first protective instincts can lead to a vicious cycle where shielding the child from their fears actually reinforces their negative feelings and makes the problem worse. Anxious children can show many varied symptoms of the difficulties that they're experiencing and sometimes lack the ability to clearly explain how they are feeling and why. They often suffer from anxieties that can stem from fear of the dark, being left alone, attending school, and even worries about the relationship of their parents. All of these worries can lead to sleep disruptions, restlessness, poor concentration, and irritability. As a parent, you'll need to make sure that you are able to read the signs that your child is exhibiting. You'll need to help determine if your child is suffering from a specific anxiety disorder, or if they're just facing the routine struggles that come with growing up. Fortunately, there are ways to help a child learn to deal with their fears and achieve a peaceful, more balanced attitude. Many of them require patience and care, but they'll go a long way towards reassuring a child that the world around them is a secure and safe place for them to grow and thrive. Here are three great ways to help your child along: Don't Avoid The Problem It's tempting for a parent to try to protect their children from anything that may harm or frighten them. While this is a completely natural and expected instinct, it can be particularly destructive to the wellbeing of an anxious child. By teaching a child to avoid anything that they fear, there's a risk that they'll simply adopt that strategy permanently. This would simply reinforce the original anxiety and send the message that fear is something to flee, rather than cope with and adapt to. Be Understanding, But Not Enabling It's important to help an anxious child know that their feelings are being understood and respected. Let your child talk to you about what's bothering them and what they're afraid of, and try to empathize with them so they don't feel like they're struggling all alone. Try to refrain from giving them any validation that will lead them to think that their fear is justified. Even if they have a legitimate reason to be anxious, such as an upcoming test at school or getting a shot at the doctor, don't feed into their feelings. Be positive and let them know that they can face their fear and that they'll get through it. Make it clear that you'll be there to help them along the way, and that they won't have to face things by themselves. Go Slowly, And Don't Push As your child learns to face their fears, make sure that they don't also have to be afraid to fail. Make sure that you set realistic expectations for their progress so you can avoid making your child feel like they're letting you down. It's vital to let them face their fears slowly, at a pace that they can handle. If they're afraid of the dark, for example, start by letting them try to get to sleep without the lights on for just a little while at a time. Gradually increase the amount of time that the lights stay off as they become accustomed to it and start to feel more secure.
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