Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
I just wanted to ask if there is a separate group or if there have been any posts regarding children with axiety. My 5 year old is dealing with moderate case of anxiety. Anywhere from getting up in the morning to changing clothes to brusing teeth to going to school is a huge ordeal every single day. He cries and throws tantrums almost 9 of the 12 waking hours in a day.
Any support or help is much appreciated.
I eventually brought my daughter to my counselor - who I was seeing for my own anxiety issues. And my counselor who was not a mental health professional, broke it down simply for my daughter and my daughter did recover.
Me and my daughter both used cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to learn how to manage our anxieties. My daughter is now 23 years old and in graduate school. Even with anxiety disorders she has lived a full life so far. She travels, did great in school - her new friends from college do not even know how severe her anxieties were when she was younger. She still works the program (as I do) and is able to manage her anxiety disorders fully.
But, the other side of that is we had a rough few years in the beginning. It was heartbreaking for me as a parent with anxiety issues myself, knowing what my daughter was going through.
The best advice I can give you is to remain patient. Keep in mind that anxiety driven thoughts (and behavior) are irrational. Do not force him to do anything. And do not tell him to ignore his feelings. Rather I would offer him a distraction. If you see a pattern as to when he starts to get anxious, engage him. Ask him questions beforehand - and through the time you expect him to be anxious. Make games with him to prepare yourself. Have some tools on hand - ice cubes work great - all he has to do is hold it. Strong flavored mints work great too. Anything that will shock the senses and keep him connected to reality. All anxiety is rooted in the future. Even though he is anxious "now" he is fearful of something happening in the future (maybe 5 seconds in the future, maybe an hour?). So the games you play with him, or the tools help him to ignore the future fear and pay attention to what is "here and now". This is CBT in a nutshell.
If you can do this day in and day out for a while, you can recondition your son not to behave this way. Assuming that what your son is actually anxiety. It may be something else bothering him. But either way, distracting him and creating new behavior patterns could help him.
Wishing you the best!
Get some kind of counsellor to investigate learning disabilities, social disabilities, anything and everything until you can find the cause.
Or of course he could just be spoiled and have learned that he gets days off doing this. But as a mother, I'm trusting your gut when you say he is suffering.