It is natural to feel anxious and worried at times. Anxiety is important for survival as it helps us avoid risky and potentially harmful situations.
However, anxiety can become overwhelming for some children and young people and prevent them from doing normal daily activities, such as attending school and seeing friends.
The symptoms of anxiety include:
- Feeling breathless, dizzy, sweaty, shaky and experiencing chest or stomach pains
- Feeling sick, ‘butterflies in the stomach’ and using the toilet often
- Feeling generally fearful, tense or worrying excessively about negative events
- Experiencing panic attacks where anxiety becomes very intense for a short period.
During this you may struggle to breathe and worry about losing control or even that you may die. It can be very traumatic, but that won’t happen.
The causes of anxiety can include:
- Traumatic childhood experiences
- Triggers in their current life situation, including school issues and family stresses
- Some illicit drugs
- Anxiety is very common in autistic spectrum disorder, often due to an unexpected change in routine. There is further information and advice about managing anxiety in autism here Anxiety (autism.org.uk)
Practising relaxation techniques and mindfulness can help to lower overall anxiety.
The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique uses your 5 senses to focus on the moment you are in and let go of stressful thoughts. Identify 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste.
The Anna Freud website has lots of resources to help manage anxiety, including relaxation techniques and self-care. It also has a toolkit of resources to help 11-13 year olds manage anxiety in schools here
If your child is so anxious they cannot cope with day to day life, specialist help may be needed. Psychological therapies are the most effective and recommended first line treatments for anxiety, please make an appointment to see your GP.