While growing up, many children suffer from different types of anxieties. Some get social anxiety disorder while some fear getting separated from their parents. As a parent, you must understand your child and try to comfort them whenever they get worried. The anxiety symptoms may aggravate when they start visiting a play school center. It is necessary to monitor any anxiety symptoms of your child and check whether it goes away or grows with time.
In their preschool years, children try to cope up with a variety of things. Parents expect them to express what they have learnt in their preschool center. Teachers expect them to sit quietly and pay attention. The day care center they visit might not provide a friendly and safe environment. They also have to manage play time with new friends or manage their bus ride from and to school.
As a parent, you must remember that your child has never been in such a situation before. So, being patient with them and addressing their concerns should be your first priority. The early signs of childhood anxiety and ways to deal with them are discussed below.
Anxiety signs and symptoms in growing children
The common signs and symptoms that many children face in early childhood and the ways to manage them have been explained below:
Facing difficulty while concentrating
Have you ever seen your child facing difficulty while trying to study or draw at school or home? If yes, it might be due to the anxiety that has kicked in. The child’s mind might be preoccupied with many worries. This not only makes them feel anxious but also makes them lose concentration.
Some children also find it difficult to concentrate on things like eating or sleeping. Anxiety might have a connection with their abnormal behavior. So, it is essential for you to understand the changes in your child’s behavior.
Ways to manage it
The most important thing is to talk about the worries with your child. Do not sound too worried while asking them the reason for their worries. Talk in a casual way. A simple reassurance from parents might be all that your child needs to be back on track!
Constant fears and worries
If your child is getting worried about routine aspects like doing homework, playing with friends, catching a school bus, etc. it might be due to anxiety. Some children fear the separation of their parents. It is common in the early preschool days. However, if it does not go away with time, you need to be a little more careful.
Ways to manage it
Do not put extra pressure on your child. Do not force them to study hard. If your child fears staying or sleeping alone, it is due to separation anxiety disorder. You can tackle this by leaving the child with grandparents, friends, and other family members occasionally.
If the child is getting too worried about general things, it is due to general anxiety disorder. Children struggling with GAD (General Anxiety Disorder) may also get worried about irrelevant things like heavy rainfall, war, or their future.
To deal with such children, the parents must encourage them to express their feelings. They must reassure them by saying that such things are common for every child. Every child has to go through many situations in school and home and there is nothing to be worried about. If these symptoms continue to grow with time, the parents should consult a child psychiatrist.
Signs of social phobia
There can be many signs and symptoms of social phobia during early childhood. Some of the common signs include:
- Feeling lightheaded or the face turning hot while meeting other children and people.
- If the child finds it difficult to stay in one place during meetups and social gatherings, it may be connected to social anxiety disorder.
- If your child avoids other people and school friends, it means that they are not coping well with social anxiety.
- If the child faces issues like short of breath or heartbeat racing too fast, it can be due to social phobia.
Ways to manage it
The children who stay in nuclear families might not meet other people often. Or else, they might only meet family members who they are closely connected to. Socializing with other people can be a big issue for such children.
As a parent, you must ensure that your child meets other children and adults on a regular basis. Taking them to a park to play with other children can be one way of preventing this issue. However, if the symptoms are already showing, you must talk with them about it. Do not address the issue directly. You should inform your child that other people are just the way they are.
Connecting your child with nature, flowers, animals, and other elements of the society is a good way to handle their social phobia.
Some children find it difficult to talk with other people. They can express themselves only to their parents or close relatives. It is a form of selective mutism which is also a type of anxiety disorder. Asking them to narrate stories or nursery rhymes in front of people from an early age might help. However, do not force your kid into such activities as it might create a panic or social fear in them.
Specific fears
Some children fear the dark whereas some fear insects like cockroaches and spiders. It is common to have such fears in early childhood.
Ways to manage it
You can talk with your child and provide them a safe and comfortable environment to overcome these fears. However, if these fears create a panic or get worse with time, it might be related to anxiety. The children who deal with specific phobia may show some signs of anxiety. Children who fear darkness might refuse to visit other rooms at night. Or, they might not go to a place where they might have to encounter their fears.
For example, children who fear dogs might not visit a relative or friend’s house that has a dog. Observing such signs and symptoms early and taking the right measures to overcome specific fears can help.
Conclusion
We hope that you have understood how early anxiety signs and symptoms in growing children. As a parent, you must act responsibly and build a strong friendship with your kid. You must understand their emotional and physical needs and provide all the comfort and safety they require at a young age. Getting them admitted to the right preschool center can also help. Such top preschool know how to deal with children who face social phobia and other kinds of anxiety disorders.
