Helping Your Child Deal with Anxiety - nbed.nb.caweb1.nbed.nb.ca/sites/district8/saintrose... ·...
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Helping Your Child Deal with Anxiety
Saint Rose School - November 19, 2014 Margot Rankin Young, L. Psych.
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Anxiety is normal
Anxiety is adaptive
What is Normal Anxiety?
Apprehension
Nervousness
Tension
Edginess
Nausea
Sweating
Trembling
Transient
Does not
significantly
interfere
Does not prevent a
person from
achieving their
goals
Situation/Trigger:
First date
Preparing for an exam
Performing at a concert
Giving a speech
Moving from home
Climbing a tall ladder
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When is Anxiety a Disorder?
• Anxiety becomes a problem when:
it makes the decisions for you
interferes with your life
and/or causes significant distress.
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Balance is the key
• Having just enough anxiety is the key
– Too little is not good
– Too much is not good
– The key is to have JUST ENOUGH
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Facts about Anxiety Disorders
• Approximately 1 in 10 children
• Most prevalent mental health problem in kids
• High comorbidity with ADHD, Depression, ODD, substance misuse
• Functional impairments: academic problems and/or dropout, peer/social difficulties, family dysfunction, restricted career opportunities, restricted career choices, anxious/depressed adult, increased likelihood of self-medication
• Girls > Boys (especially phobias, panic disorder, agoraphobia, separation anxiety)
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Anxiety Disorders in Children
• Separation Anxiety Disorder: separation from caregivers,
concern bad things will happen to them
• Selective Mutism: Failure to speak in specific social situation
despite speaking in others
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder: uncontrollable excessive worry
about many areas of life functioning (e.g., school work, family,
friends, health)
• Social Phobia: fearful of social or performance situations
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Anxiety Disorders in Children
• Specific Phobia: fear of particular objects or situations
• Panic Disorder: misinterpret bodily changes and have a fear of
losing control
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: the presence of intrusive
repetitive thoughts (obsessions) or behaviours (compulsions), >1
hour/day
• Post traumatic Stress Disorder Experience traumatic event, re-
experiencing, avoidance and numbness, increased arousal, >1
month
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What Causes Anxiety?
• Genetics/Biological Basis
– Anxiety runs in families
– Common for at least one parent to be anxious
– Research has shown that what is passed on from parent to child is not a specific tendency to be shy or worry but a general personality type and/or cognitive style predisposing child to develop anxiety.
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What Causes Anxiety? (cont’d)
• Parent Reaction – Reactions to child or teen’s anxious behaviour might also
play a role in increasing anxiety (e.g., being over-protective, excessive reassurance).
• Modeling
– Children and adolescents copy their parents coping strategies (e.g., avoiding fearful situations).
• Stressors/Traumatic Life Events
– Bit by a dog, death of a loved one, being bullied, getting sick, academic struggles
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We experience anxiety in three ways:
1) Cognitive
2) Physical
3) Behavioural
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Cognitive
• Anxious children overestimate how likely it is that an unpleasant event will happen.
• They overestimate how bad the consequences will be if the event does happen.
• They underestimate their ability to cope with the anxiety and the unpleasant event
• Catastrophizers
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Physical
• Rapid heart rate
• Heart palpitations
• Rapid and shallow breathing
• Discomfort in the stomach, nausea
• Nausea
• Trembling/shaking
• Muscle tension
• Chest pain
• Headaches
• Dizziness…..
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Behaviour
• Pace, fidget, cry, cling, shake
• Avoid • Refusing to go to school or class
• Refusing to go somewhere alone
• Complain of headache or stomach ache to get out of doing something
• Reassurance seeking. • “Am I going to die?”
• “Are you sure ________ won’t happen?”
• Repetitive behaviours to prevent event • Checking multiple times to ensure that the door is locked
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• Child enters difficult situation
• Child becomes anxious and fearful
• Anxious behavior escalates and child gets stuck
• Child avoids the situation or asks others to help
• Child continues to think the situation is dangerous and feels helpless
Common Pattern of Anxiety
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STRATEGIES
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Attachment strategies Evidence confirms that adult-child relationships are the key
• Key component to preventing depression/anxiety is positive social and emotional connections between o Youth and supportive adults o Youth and school o Youth and community
• Teens with strong connections with adults, even if socially isolated from peers are still resistant to depression/anxiety
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Ensure strong attachments and relationships
with your child
• Studies show that the strongest resiliency factor for mental
health is strong connections between a child and his/her parent
•The need to connect is hard-wired into all of us, and the need
to connect is important throughout the life span
•This need for connection or attachment is thus crucial for Normal physical, cognitive and emotional development
Happiness and contentment
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Whenever there is a physical separation, talk about the next
reunion Parents:
• Before your child leaves for school
– “See you after school”. “Can’t wait until we go for our walk later after school” . “I’ll be thinking about you all day”
– Give your child transition objects, e.g. notes in your child’s lunch box; special jewelry or possessions
• Before parent leaves for an errand – Parent: “See you in half an hour”
• Before bedtime: – “You’ll be in my dreams” “See you in the morning” “What do you
want for breakfast?”
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Whenever there is an emotional separation, talk about the next reunion
Parent:
– “I’m really sorry you’ve been hitting your sister”.
– “I’m very disappointed in your behaviour.”
– “ This behaviour is unacceptable. You’re going to have to go to your room.”
– Bridge the separation
– “I’ll check on you in a few minutes”
– “I love you, which is why we’re going to talk about this later and work this out.”
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Home Management Strategies
for Anxiety
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• Listen
• Normalize
• Educate
• Model
• Avoid giving excessive reassurance
• Praise
• Make a routine and follow it
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• Work with your partner to be consistent
• Never minimize the child’s fears
• Decide what fears/situations the child must
face
• Avoid putting too much pressure on the child
to “perform”
• Avoid over-programming the child
• Shield children from adult matters
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• Set a regular bedtime routine
• Having a soothing routine o Reading, relaxation music, etc.
• Remove stimulating things
o Remove televisions from bedrooms!
Get enough sleep!
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Eat a healthy diet
• Follow Health Canada food guide o Breakfast o Snack o Lunch o Snack o Dinner
• In particular o Having enough carbohydrates o Limit caffeine or stimulants
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Exercise/Move
Exercise has anti-anxiety effects * Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) recommends at least 1-hr daily
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Martial Arts and Yoga
• It is believed that yoga may be helpful for anxiety
• Martial arts has been shown helpful for confidence/self-esteem
• Ideally family classes to help with family bonding
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CALMING STRATEGIES
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Muscle relaxation
1. Differential Relaxation 2. Tense and Relax each muscle group
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Imagine a Relaxing Place
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Change the Channel (i.e., Just Do Something Different)
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Mental Health Resources
• www.anxietybc.com
• www.kidsmentalhealth.ca
• www.teenmentalhealth.org
• www.myhealthmagazine.net
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REFERENCES
Dr. A. Bagnell, Dealing with Anxiety in the Classroom Dr. M. Cheng, Overcoming Anxiety: Information for Families Dr. D. Chorney, Understanding Anxiety: Identifying and Reducing Anxiety at Home & School Dr. A. Pencer, Anxiety & Selective Mutism in Youth Workshop www.anxiety.bc.com