The Anxiety Cure For Kids: Little-Known Things That Might Worsen Your Kids Anxiety And How To Fix Them

By Lawrence Conley

Do you ever wonder what your anxious child is feeling? 

Do you wish you could take all their worries away? 

Are you ready to empathetically relate to their anxiety and learn coping techniques that will support your entire family?

 

If you find yourself nodding 'yes' to the questions above, you've found the perfect guide packed with your answers.

 

This book is for the parent who wants to understand pediatric anxiety to its core. 

 

Beginning with an in-depth look at what anxiety really is (through your child's eyes) and leading to a toolbox of applicable strategies you and your child can practice together. 

Learning about your children's anxiety doesn't need to be a daunting task.

The exercises inside are meant to evoke a sense of self-awareness that can complement everyone involved. 

From an author who understands the parent-child relationship with anxiety, the Anxiety Cure for Kids uncovers what methods parents can apply to help their child feel less fear and become more resilient.

Liz Matheis, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in assisting children and their families with anxiety, published an article in 2019 titled, Signs and Symptoms of Anxiety in Children. 

She states, "Anxiety presents itself in many ways in children that are not always easy to pick up on. 

Essentially, anxiety in children tends to manifest as negative behaviors that you may have glimpsed briefly in the past, but that are becoming consistent and intense. 

 

The development of anxiety in children is linked to a situation or perceived event that is frightening or traumatizing."

This thorough guide will help uncover the common fears and worries that may be triggering your child's anxiety.  

Dive into the learning and experimental process of getting to know who and what anxiety is so that your child can finally feel their autonomy. 

In this book, you'll discover: 

• A toolbox of over 14 mental exercises and meditative techniques that can be used RIGHT NOW to keep your kid's worry at bay (even if your other tactics have been ineffective). 
• Anxiety Checklist – a hands-on approach to understanding if your child has symptoms of anxiety. 
• An in-depth look at what anxiety is and the interconnectedness of thoughts and feelings in a child's life. 
• Over 7 case studies surrounding mental disorders that allow you to understand what external factors trigger anxiety and how feelings are involved.
• A break-down of worry and how neurobiological information affects the brain, providing scientific context. 
• How to identify and understand the sources of your child's fear (and your own) with a Study Your Fear Questionnaire.
• Why the indulgent parenting style is the best for preventing behavioral problems and what SIX actions a parent can IMMEDIATELY take to support their child.
• How to stop your child from feeding his or her own fear and creating a negative spiral loop of self-sabotage (that can eliminate any progress made).

 

… and much, much more!

Your child's anxiety doesn't need to run your household. 

By taking the appropriate steps to encourage an empathetic and supportive environment, you'll be giving your child a fertile ground to properly manage their own anxiety. 

 

Click "Add to Cart" now to step on the path of understanding so that your kid can feel comfortable exploring the world on their own. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: M & M Limitless Online Inc.
• Release date: Jul 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393040644

Book preview

Introduction

Multiple statistical reports state that one in every four people would develop some anxiety disorder [1]. Children and teenagers are especially vulnerable to threats to their mental health. It happens because children are forced to live between two types of forces: biological and social.

In modern society, even young children can live under constant pressure. They feel that they are continually being evaluated by their family members, their teachers, and their friends. There are also expectations they learn about from the TV, the Internet, and other sources.

The rapid changes that the children's brains undergo during development also make them vulnerable. That is why the risk of mental disorders, especially anxiety, is so high in children [2].

Modern psychiatric research proves: pathological anxiety goes beyond the mere fear of bad grades or an attack from bullies [1, 2]. It can have a profound effect on the child's life, making it impossible for him or her to function and communicate normally [1 - 3]. The mounting evidence gathered in 20 years also proves that high levels of anxiety are also associated with the risk of developing depression at the same time or later in life [4].

It is proven without a doubt that anxiety is dangerous for the well-being of our children. Sometimes it seems that nothing can battle this constant dark cloud that hangs over your child. You want to protect them and help them, but do not know how.

Do we need to rely on specialists and counselors for help? Or are there methods that parents themselves can apply to help one's child to feel less fear, be happier, and be more resilient?

Here is at least part of the answer. And this answer is completely scientific. You can be assured it is based both on a lifetime of research and practical experience.

Drawing from multiple sources, we offer an algorithm of sorts to counteract this enemy of a happy childhood.

Of course, multiple treatment options can be suggested for mental disorders by medical professionals. There are genuinely effective therapies offered at medical facilities. There are also medicines aimed to help with overcoming anxiety. But this type of help is not enough.

You see, it is the parents that children view as their safe havens, their fortresses. We, as parents, provide the safety blanket against the scary things life presents. So, it falls to us to join hands with therapists to help children overcome their fears, both rational and irrational.

It is not hard to do. This book is going to prove it, step by step.

In the following chapters, we are going to offer you some crucial bricks in building a formidable defense structure against the anxiety threat. Even scientists acknowledge the importance of parental support in the prevention and treatment of anxiety disorders [5; 6]. The interventions at home can supplement the traditional lines of treatment and prevent possible risk of depression and suicide [6, 7].

Anxiety is our common enemy. To defeat it, you must understand it. To battle it, you can use several simple and effective strategies based on mindfulness, relaxation, and some critical thinking skills. All of these approaches are presented here.

This book is a comprehensive plan of action aimed to bring relief from anxiety for the young ones, backed up by science and practical experience. Considering the risk mental disorders pose, such as the development of severe depression, inability to function in society normally, and even the possibility of suicidal behavior, we must act now [5]. And this book is your weapon in this, sometimes uphill, battle.

Chapter 1. What Is Anxiety

Know Thy Enemy

In the course of our lives, we often feel anxiety. It is a normal response that helps us survive. Anxiety can be interpreted as an anticipation of a threat [8].

For example, we are aware of an event that may potentially cause us trouble occurring soon. It could be something as simple as an unpleasant meeting or an exam. As this event is troublesome and likely has unpleasant consequences (i.e., lousy grade at an exam), our body needs to prepare in advance. As a result, our heart rate increases, our muscles tense, the skin is covered with sweat.

We do not need sweaty palms at a meeting or exam! Unfortunately, our bodies may not understand the intricacies of social norms. It just knows that we are afraid of what is to come. And if we fear it – it counts as a threat.

Based on thousands of years of ingrained instincts, our body definitely knows what to do when a threat is expected. We must be either prepared to run away or to fight until the danger passes. That is why even if we do not meet real predators at a conference. The feelings associated with it may be very similar to the way a hare feels when it expects to meet a tiger [8].

The body switches gears inside that make us ready to run and also helps us to be as slippery as possible to evade capture – that is why we feel jittery and sweat a lot [9]. All of these processes happen to everyone – the difference is in how long they persevere inside us.

In the typical situation, when something unpleasant is no longer here – we instantly feel better. Our heart rate slows down, our muscles relax, and we may even feel elated. That is all part of the same mechanisms of self-defense we have inherited from our ancestors.

If we look at a mental disorder, the preparations our body makes for some instances refuse to fade away. The feelings usually reserved for threat anticipation persist and grow out of proportion. That is what happens in pathological anxiety – the fight or flight response would urge you from inside, even if there is no threat at all [8].

At times there is some threat, but the reaction is too severe for the risk before us. It is something like using an atomic bomb when a hand grenade would have been sufficient [8].

One of the reasons why children are especially likely to develop anxiety disorders is the fact that fears are a normal part of their lives [10]. Young children, both because of their age and dependence on adults, fear a lot of things, from ghosts to spiders [10].

Underlying fears of childhood are mostly a part of the child's self-protection [8]. But children's minds are not capable of critically evaluating the possible danger level. Many different things influence their views, from scary fairy tales to genuinely traumatic events.

Because children are not critical enough and lack knowledge about certain situations, their fears may grow out of proportion. Unstable environments and a lack of ways to change the situation make them feel increasingly helpless, frustrated, and scared. All these processes contribute to the development of anxiety disorders in