Physical disability, impairment, or condition of body are some human bodily problems that everyone can see and accept to some level. But anxiety is a like that physical illness or pain that cannot be seen and hence difficult to understand. Many are unable to understand the complexity of anxiety and how it can affect and limit us from experiencing everyday life if not treated or managed.
Let's take a look at some statistics - By 2020, 5.6 million kids (9.2% children) had been diagnosed with anxiety problems. Moreover, only 4 out of 10 kids with anxiety receive treatment. Anxiety is a word that is thrown about and overused on a daily basis. Thanks to the half information we have about what anxiety actually is and to social media where people use the word anxiety to cope with a celebrity break up etc. To be honest, anxiety in kids can seriously affect their developmental years - their grades, school performance, interpersonal skills - all end up suffering. Anxiety in children can seriously change the way a child learns, interacts, or handles emotions.
So, let's understand the meaning of anxiety?
Anxiety is our body's natural response to stress. It's our body's innate way of protecting itself. Anxiety is a stop-reaction to the body's impulses that fear, and other core emotions create. It's a normal reaction to danger and is triggered when you feel threatened or under pressure or are facing a stress-inducing situation. It is that unpleasant and vague sense of apprehension that is a response to an unknown threat. The reason we feel uneasy is because we feel something terrible might happen. This anxious response stems out of our minds interpretation to a situation when assessing potential dangers.
Anxiety is a big issue for children, and this often comes from repressed fear or anger that they haven't been able to express. When we keep our feelings to ourselves for any length of time, we can develop symptoms of anxiety and not know why we feel scared or panicked.
It's an overwhelming feeling of fear, worry, apprehension about what is to come. It could be worrying about exams, meeting a relative who often comments on your body, meeting a friend whom you have lost touch with, giving a speech, a job interview etc. These are normal reactions you have to situations. But when these feelings of anxiety distort your reality or make it difficult to function normally in daily life, for longer than 6 months - then this is a classic case of anxiety disorder.
How to identify Anxiety in your child?
Identifying symptoms of anxiety in your child could be a challenge at times. As parents, you must notice what your child is going through at a young age. Look for verbal cues, physical changes, behavioral changes.
Signs of Anxiety in Kids:
- finding it difficult to concentrate on tasks
- overthinking or getting lost in thoughts
- loss of appetite
- not sleeping properly or sleeping way too much
- waking up with bad dreams
- being over clingy
- being quickly irritable, agitated or angry
- hard to handle outbursts
- constantly worrying or even having bad thoughts
- complaining of being unwell or tummy aches, headaches
- worrying about non-existent problem
- isolating themselves from everything and everyone
- losing temper on petty issues
- losing interest in activities that earlier seemed pleasurable
Sometimes they could have above symptoms for a short period of time, like it could come and go - in that case it means our child is able to build and cope with the symptoms of anxiety automatically and doesn't need external help. Or it could be because of some other reasons all together like not eating because of stomach infection. But if multiple symptoms persist for 6 months or above then it's time to visit a professional.
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