It is part of our nature to worry. Anxiety can be a good thing- it motivates us and moves us towards our goals, it helps us be prepared. It is part of our nature to worry. New jobs, big crowds, new people, exams, interviews, getting married, having children – all these things can cause anxiety, and anxiety is normal.
In response to anxiety, we do what we can to prepare ourselves to deal with the situation. We study harder for exams, prepare better for interviews, go to parenting classes, and ask for advice when we are unsure about what to do.
However, some people develop more sensitivity towards stressful situations and are more likely to respond with anxiety and find it harder to control it. Anxiety takes over and dictates what they do in their lives. They are not able to function the way they normally would.
Anxiety is a normal part of childhood. Every child goes through phases, when they join a new school, move to a new place or face an increased workload in their classes when they have anxious phases. Moderate anxiety helps children push to succeed at home and in school. Some anxiety is expected when children are in uncomfortable situations but the anxiety goes away once the situation has passed. If the child continues to be anxious after the situation has passed, is anxious more often than not or when they have an anxious reaction disproportionate to the situation, there is likely a bigger problem. Uncontrolled anxiety may begin to interfere with daily activities, they may have exaggerated responses to small stressors and any number of other possible symptoms, some of which are listed below.
One of the difficult parts of dealing with anxiety in children is that anxiety presents very differently. Adults are usually able to recognize and communicate anxiety. Children, however, will respond to anxiety with negative behaviours like hostility, irritability, acting out, picking fights and nervous behaviours. Parents, teachers and caregivers are usually quick to spot these behaviours but often miss the anxiety that is underlying it. We picture anxious children as scared, quiet and cowering when in reality, anxious children can be very aggressive and ferocious about escaping stressful situations. They don’t know what emotion they are feeling or why they are feeling it -they only know that they want to get away from it. They might be experiencing these symptoms for the first time, without warning and without knowing what it is.
Children have many reasons to be anxious, but even more so because of the pandemic that has turned our world upside down. Children are not able to go to school, participate in extracurricular activities or spend time with children their age because of covid restrictions.
Covid has changed the schedule of the school year and there have been many uncertainties because of the uncertainty surrounding covid and its progression, coming back to school after being away from a year will be an adjustment, not to mention the additional covid regulations that will have to be in place.
With parents and children being forced to spend all of their time together in an enclosed space, children are more aware of the stress their parents are going through. There are also many families in which parents have lost their jobs. Much is still unknown about covid and most children are unaware of what covid is, how dangerous it is and how it spreads, prompting them to try to come up with their own explanations which are usually erroneous and anxiety provoking. They might hear information and misinterpret it, causing them to be more anxious. They could believe that anyone sneezing or coughing has Covid, they could believe that stepping outside the house means contracting the virus, etc. There are also many families that have lost loved ones to covid and because of this, the anxieties and fears may increase. They could be afraid of losing more family, or be more sensitive to anyone displaying any possible symptoms of covid, triggering a panic.
Educating ourselves to be aware of the possible fears and misinterpretations that children may have helps us be prepared to deal with them.
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