While anxiety helps us spot danger and avoid it, too much anxiety and experiencing anxiety when something is not dangerous can be very upsetting for children. It can also keep children from engaging in fun and important experiences, make it harder to develop important life skills, and add stress to the family.
Let’s turn to our two characters, Sally and Neil.
Too much anxiety is precisely the problem that Sally and Neil are dealing with at the moment.
For example, since Sally is afraid of germs, she will not touch her shoes or shoelaces and needs her mom to put on her shoes for her every day. She gets very upset if she needs to change shoes or if her shoelace becomes untied when her mom isn’t around, as other people do not understand her fear. If this anxiety about germs is not addressed, then Sally may find it difficult to develop skills in dressing independently, which she would otherwise be able to learn. Furthermore, Sally feels the impulse to wash her hands every time she touches an object, such as a doorknob or phone. While washing hands is a healthy habit, Sally’s mom is worried because the time she spends washing her hands every day could be spent on fun hobbies. Also, Sally’s hands are very dry and red because she washes her hands too much.
Neil is afraid to be away from his mom and throws a tantrum every morning before school. As a result, his mom often caves and allow him to stay home. So Neil misses several days at school, which interferes with his learning and relationships with peers. Further, Neil’s anxiety has put additional stress on his mom as she needs to stay home from work to take care for Neil on days that he refuses to attend school. A child who needs a lot of help for their anxiety can unintentionally cause hardships in the family because the family needs to make changes to cope with the child’s anxiety.
As you can see, too much anxiety can make it hard for us to do important things and cause unnecessary distress. Too much anxiety can also cause kids to miss out on activities that they might enjoy and excel at, like sports or singing in public. Additionally, too much anxiety may put children at risk for developing other problems in the future. For example, children with social anxiety might have a hard time making friends, which can lead to feelings of loneliness and sadness. Anxiety in children is also linked to physical problems like gastrointestinal issues (e.g., stomachaches, indigestion) and headaches.
Ideally, we want to have a level of anxiety that is somewhere in between too little and too much anxiety. Enough to keep us focused and safe, but not so much that we feel afraid of things that probably will not happen and we cannot do what we need to do. Everyone experiences some level of anxiety. Most people, at some point in their lives, will also experience anxiety that is too high. This is completely normal! However, when anxiety is too high for too long, that’s when it can be helpful to learn strategies to cope with these feelings.
Considering all the difficulties that untreated anxiety can cause, our team is passionate about providing anxiety treatment to kids and their families! LUNA will teach you and your child how to recognize anxiety and use coping skills, along with other helpful techniques.
