Mental Health
& Wellbeing update

Anxiety in Children

Many of us have experienced either anxiety ourselves, or for a loved one. This fortnight let's look more at what anxiety is, what can trigger/cause anxiety in children, how anxiety can impact children, how families can help to support an anxious child and lastly, what professional supports there are to help families.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a common reaction to stressful or new situations. It’s our body’s way of letting us know when to be on guard as part of our ‘fight or flight’ response. Depending on the situation you’re facing, anxiety can feel like slight nervousness through to a racing heart and excessive sweating. Most of the time these feelings come and go, and don’t last long. But these feelings can become a problem if they persist and prevent us from doing things that are important to us. Just like adults, children feel anxious sometimes. But if anxious feelings last a long time, cause distress and/or prevent your child from doing activities that are important and meaningful to them (like going to school or seeing friends), they may need support to learn how to manage these feelings. By identifying and addressing issues early, you can help to reduce the risk of your child experiencing anxiety into adolescence and adulthood.

How can I recognise anxiety?

Anxiety is the most common mental health difficulty in children and adolescents. But it can be easy to miss.

Anxiety may show up as physical symptoms, such as a fast heart rate and tears when leaving a parent for the first time or butterflies in the stomach and feeling nauseous before going to a new friend’s birthday party. Children may have trouble concentrating, be more tired than usual and might seem irritable.

Anxiety generally looks different and is related to different developmental milestones in each age group:

Primary schoolers aged 5–11 years mainly experience anxiety as worrying thoughts, when they start experiencing more of the world around them. Anxiety may be expressed in physical symptoms, such as tummy aches and trouble sleeping. In the early school years children may refuse to go to school and feel anxious about the dark, monsters or ghosts.

What can cause or trigger of anxiety in children?

Anxiety is generally caused by a combination of factors including genetics/family history, and sometimes experiences of trauma or stressful events. Examples of experiences or anxiety triggers that are common in primary school-aged children are listed as follows:

Younger children (around 5- to 8-years-old) may feel anxious about the dark, monsters or ghosts. They may experience separation anxiety when leaving their parent or caregiver. One of the biggest events in this age group is the shift from home or childcare to primary school. New routines, rules and changing friendships naturally lead to some uncomfortable feelings of uncertainty. At school, children need to practice skills such as independent toileting, eating and working, as well as the social skills of sharing and negotiating, which can be challenging and overwhelming for them at times.
Later in primary school (at around 9- to 12-years-old) most children are experiencing lots of changes – in their bodies, friendships, school environment and family relationships. They often have a growing awareness of local, national and global events like climate change and homelessness, which can add to their worries. Greater use of social media can lead children to feel pressured to look or act a certain way, while increasing the risk of cyberbullying and therefore the risk of anxiety.
Challenges with friendships may begin in these years including experiencing bullying or engaging in bullying behaviour, so it is important to be aware of any signs (physical or emotional). Signs that your child is experiencing bullying might include:
- cuts or scratches
- missing property
- being teary or withdrawn; or
- not wanting to go to school or staying close to teachers.
If your child is engaging in bullying, they may talk about other children in an aggressive way or have possessions that don’t belong to them.
Children who have experienced natural disasters, like bushfire, flood or drought and the trauma and family stress that often comes with them, have a higher risk of experiencing mental health difficulties and may need professional support. It’s important to remain curious in the weeks, months and even years following a disaster. Check in regularly with your child about how they’re feeling and keep an eye out for changes in their behaviour.

Identifying anxiety early and supporting your child to manage anxiety using strategies such as those outlined in the following examples can make a big difference.

But if you feel anxiety is significantly impacting your child’s wellbeing, friendships, school achievement or family life, talk to your GP. They can provide advice and further support if required while ruling out any physical underlying causes of physical symptoms.

How anxiety affects children: Signs and examples

How your child thinks about a situation, event, person or object influences their feelings and behaviours.

As you can see in the following examples, an anxious thought like ‘What if something terrible happens?’ can lead to a physical sensation (feeling sick or racing thoughts), anxious feelings (worried or scared), and then an action, like avoiding a situation (not wanting to stay at Grandma’s place or go to school).

How can families help support children with anxiety?

There are lots of things you can do to help your child better manage anxiety and reduce its impact on their life:

Acknowledge their anxious feelings and thoughts (if possible) and let them know that most children feel anxious sometimes.
Gently encourage them to do things they’re anxious about, as avoidance makes anxiety continue and get worse, rather than go away. When they do try something new or face a situation that makes them anxious, praise them for these actions and talk about how they managed it.
Help them learn, and support them to use, calming and other strategies that will reduce the impact of anxiety on their daily life, such as deep breathing.

Getting professional support

It can be very difficult to tell if your child’s behaviour is just a phase, or a signal that they’re struggling with anxiety and need help from a health professional.

Remember you are the expert on your child, and if you feel anxiety is impacting on their daily life, wellbeing, relationships, school achievement or family life, talk to your GP. They can assess your child and talk to you about the types of support available. Getting professional support early can build resilience in your child which will be an important foundation as they grow.

Triple P- Positive Parenting Program

For more support to help with your child/ren’s mental health and wellbeing needs, Triple P offer free, online courses designed to build resilience and help in breaking free from anxiety. A link to their website is included below-

https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/au/parenting-courses/fear-less-triple-p-online/