CHILDHOOD ANXIETY -
Mental Health &
Wellbeing @ St. Johns
Introducing the most brilliant way to overcome childhood anxiety by Michael Grose
Like an out-of-control plague, childhood anxiety is running rampant through families and schools across the developed world.
The Covid pandemic and the rise of social media are partly to blame. But this anxious generation has been decades in the making.
A tragedy in three acts.
American Psychologist Johnathan Haidt describes Childhood Anxiety as a tragedy in three acts.
Act 1, a breakdown in local communities, began in the 1960s, which led to Act 2, the reduction in play-based childhood that began in the 1980s. This reduction accelerated in the 1990s and 2000s as children moved indoors and away from unsupervised play.
In the 2010s, Act 3 began with the widespread use of smartphones and the increase in screen-based childhoods. Children spent more time indoors, glued to screens, which decreased their engagement in physical risk-taking activities. This also meant they missed out on the psychological benefits that come from facing and overcoming risks.
Additionally, children's resilience declined, and fear became more prevalent as children overestimated danger and underestimated their ability to cope. It became normal for children to catastrophize.
What doesn’t overcome anxiety.
Before we look at solutions to the anxiety epidemic that’s plaguing families and schools, let’s look at what doesn’t work. First, it’s crucial to acknowledge that anxiety is incredibly hard to manage.
As someone who has dealt with anxiety for a long time, I can attest that some days you win the battle, but the war still rages in the background.
Avoidance
People with anxiety are essentially battling against evolutionary forces that are designed to keep us safe. When we encounter a spider, our bodies react the same way as they would if facing a lion, tiger, or any other predator. This fight-or-flight response has been essential for human survival, but it doesn't distinguish between different types of threats. As a result, we react in a similar manner to all perceived dangers; whether it's a predator, a spider, or giving a speech, we avoid them.
But avoidance is a mirage. A child may feel temporary relief from anxiety by not going to a birthday party, but those anxious feelings will return when the next party invitation arrives.
Distraction
You can distract a child from his worries for a limited time, but they will return. Anxious thoughts keep coming back because nature designed them to be "sticky". Your ancestors wouldn't have survived those predators if they lost focus and forgotten them. The evolutionary survival mechanism means those anxious thoughts will keep returning.
Exposure
The gradual exposure therapy, which involves gradually exposing children to the things they fear, is effective. However, it is quite challenging to implement. Camilo Ortes, a well-known clinical psychologist specializing in childhood anxiety, reports that many therapists are reluctant to use this therapy because it initially intensifies anxiety before helping to reduce it. As a parent and teacher-administered intervention, exposure therapy is out of the question.
What will overcome anxiety.
Imagine a solution to childhood anxiety that leverages exposure theory and is enjoyable for kids. It sounds too good to be true, but it’s not.
The solution is to give kids a mega-dose of childhood independence through play, exploration, and greater freedom. Before I explain how that works, it’s important to acknowledge three obstacles that have emerged in recent decades. First, parents spend more time with their children than ever before. Second, children are taking fewer risks. Third, children play less with each other than in the past.
These three reasons together have contributed to plummeting independence. Less independence is at the heart of childhood anxiety.
How Independence works.
Independence reduces anxiety by exercising many of the psychological muscles needed to counteract anxiety. Most importantly, it builds confidence by exposing individuals to real-life situations unrelated to their fears. For example, if someone is afraid of the dark, they could be asked to walk to the shop to get some milk.
Overall, exposure to new situations involving challenges helps build resilience, confidence, resourcefulness, flexibility, and the ability to take smart risks.
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