Children with Anxiety

Anxiety is a difficult beast to deal with for anyone but when you’re a child, whether you’ve heard of anxiety before, or have never heard of it, it can be a scary time.

Anxiety is something everyone experiences at times and feeling anxious is a perfectly natural reaction to some situations.

But sometimes feelings of anxiety can be constant, overwhelming or out of proportion to the situation and this can affect your daily life.

Anxiety is a feeling of unease, like a worry or fear, that can be mild or severe. Everyone feels anxious from time to time and it usually passes once the situation is over.

It can make our heart race, we might feel sweaty, shaky or short of breath. Anxiety can also cause changes in our behaviour, such as becoming overly careful or avoiding things that trigger anxiety.

When anxiety becomes a problem, our worries can be out of proportion with relatively harmless situations. It can feel more intense or overwhelming and interfere with our everyday lives and relationships.

Just like adults, children and young people feel worried and anxious at times, but if your child’s anxiety is starting to affect their wellbeing, they may need some help.

There may be many times in a child’s life when they feel anxious. For example, many children feel anxious when going to a new school or before tests and exams. Some children feel shy in social situations and may need support with this.

Anxiety becomes a problem for children when it starts to get in the way of their everyday life.

If you go into any school at exam time, all the children will be anxious, but some may be so anxious that they don’t manage to get to school that morning.

Severe anxiety like this can harm children’s mental and emotional wellbeing, affecting their self-esteem and confidence. They may become withdrawn and go to great lengths to avoid things or situations that make them feel anxious.

What are the signs of anxiety in children?

When young children feel anxious, they cannot always understand or express what they are feeling. You may notice that they:

• become irritable, tearful or clingy
• have difficulty sleeping
• wake in the night
• start wetting the bed
• have bad dreams

In older children you may notice that they:

• lack confidence to try new things or seem unable to face simple, everyday challenges
• find it hard to concentrate
• have problems with sleeping or eating
• have angry outbursts
• have a lot of negative thoughts, or keep thinking that bad things are going to happen
• start avoiding everyday activities, such as seeing friends, going out in public or going to school

The techniques used in this programme can be done by the child on their self, using their hands, as well as additional techniques, you as parent or care giver can do on your child to support them further. They can be done at the same time as each other or separately.

Your child can use these simple hand techniques wherever they go. ‘You never leave home without your hands, so you can always do this, wherever you are’.

I have written this programme following my daughters struggles with anxiety.

This programme is designed to help support your child, their wellbeing and give them back some control.

You’ll receive a 5 Step mindful reflexology routine, along with a bonus, 4 point facial reflexology routine for added relaxation, along with supporting videos to help you carry on these techniques at home.

The techniques used in this programme can be done by the child on their self, using their hands, as well as additional techniques, you as parent or care giver can do on your child to support them further. They can be done at the same time as each other or separately.