Ideas to break the Anxiety Loop for your Child’s Anxiety

I have two children with special needs. My son, when stressed, chews everything and gets really loud and ‘fast, and can take quite a bit of time to come back down to an appropriate baseline to manage himself.  My daughter gets angry, swears and withdraws from all polite conversation as delayed language causes frustration when she wants to express herself.

 

Anxiety can look like many things.  It can look like anger, a meltdown, withdrawal from a social situation, avoiding new tasks or situations, and it can even be repetitive movements, noises or language.  Many people with anxiety will also withdraw from social situations as they feel a huge fear of the unknown and the unplanned.

 

I know it’s hard to plan everything as life just doesn’t work that way, however, I have found these tips help my family ease the anxiety loop from week to week.

 

1. Always have quiet time each day for everyone! 10 minutes – 60 minutes will help to reset the brain and the body!  Read a positive book, listen to some happy music, close your eyes for a nanna nap!  Teaching our kids to do this on a regular basis when at home is very important, however, it is much more effective when you do it too! (Monkey see, monkey do).

 

2. Teach your child to take 5 deep slow breaths when feeling stressed or nervous. Each breath should be focused on with the idea in mind that we are in charge of our own mind and body.  The best way to teach this is to make it fun!  For example, if it is a littlie, you could get them imagining that there belly is a bright colourful balloon!

 

3. Always have a weekly schedule for the whole family up in a common place for everyone to see. This will ease some of the burden of the ‘unknown’ and will help create a stress-free start to the week.

 

4. Talk about the schedule and what is expected in the week! Family chats once a week and daily reminders work well!  Keep it simple though!

 

5. Encourage children as soon as they can read or draw to complete a daily journal. Anxiety causes us to mull over and over again issues that are not necessarily ‘big’, but the more we give negative thought to them, the bigger they seem!  For littlies, this could be drawing pictures and for older kids it could be in story form if preferred.

 

6. Use a 5-point scale. Having a 5-point scale in your anxious child’s room is a great way to teach them how to be aware of where they are on the anxiety and meltdown scale.  It will give them a chance to work out how to come back down to a good baseline before passing the point of no return and having a meltdown.

 

7. Talk good food! Kids need to take ownership of their bodies and minds!  Teach them about good and bad foods, preservatives and colours etc.  Again…if you talk it and teach it, then it is important to practice what you preach as kids are always modelling your behaviour!

 

8. Encourage your child to connect with a school or community counsellor / psychologist. This will teach them that it is ok to talk stuff through with someone other than family or friends, and it will keep them talking about where they are really at, and teach them a great habit for life!

 

9. Move! Get your child out to do a sneaky few rounds of high intensity training, or play games that require fitness movements!  10 minutes of short, hard training will help the body and brain recover from a stressful situation!  .and they love it when you join in and do it too!

 

10. Have a silly dance session at home! Get all the family to pick songs they like and create a playlist that has the whole family grooving! This is a great way to loosen up and be clowns together!

 

Well, I must say these help my whole family exist together in harmony…or chaos depending on the day!  (And I am the master at silly dance moves!)

 

Article from Leah Chandler, Kids-Fit Australia Kidsfitaustralia.com