Stress and anxiety in children and adolescents is a serious problem that disrupts their mental health. Therefore, examining its causes and treatments is of great importance. To understand the reasons behind stress and anxiety in children and adolescents, it is necessary to look back to the prenatal, pregnancy, and infancy periods. In this article, we aim to review some of these causes.
Causes of Stress and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents:
- Pregnancy Period: If the mother experiences hormonal imbalances during pregnancy, for example, elevated cortisol levels (the stress hormone), this hormone can pass through the placenta to the fetus, causing the fetus to be affected by stress and anxiety.
- Parents’ Personality, Especially the Mother: If the stress and anxiety levels of the parents, especially the mother, are higher than usual, they will likely be unable to raise a calm child. Because the child absorbs anxiety by observing the mother’s expressions, behaviors, beliefs, and thoughts. An anxious mother cannot provide calmness to her child.
- Parenting Styles: If the parents use a strict and unnecessarily restrictive parenting style, the child is more prone to stress and anxiety. Parents who do not allow their child to make mistakes and constantly threaten the child with harsh consequences such as yelling and punishment create an environment full of fear, which leads to anxiety. Parents need to be aware of how to respond appropriately to their child’s behavior in different situations.
- Relationship Between Parents: If a child frequently witnesses conflicts and fights between parents, they become susceptible to anxiety. Children should not witness their parents’ disagreements. Differences in parents’ cultural and social levels are often the cause of conflicts, so preventing these issues helps create a suitable environment for parenting.
- Various Fears: Children experience different fears at different ages. For example, between ages 2-3 or 3-5, children may fear darkness, animals, and so forth. Each of these fears can cause mental disturbances and anxiety. While some fears are natural and necessary for survival, if fear goes beyond the normal range and becomes ingrained in the mind, it leads to stress and anxiety. One such fear is the fear of losing parents, which causes significant anxiety in children.
- Birth Order: According to Alfred Adler, the position of a child in the family birth order matters. Typically, the firstborn child experiences more anxiety from parents, as parenting the first child is a new and stressful experience for the parents. In families with three children, the middle child is usually more prone to anxiety. Sometimes a child experiences temporary stress and anxiety due to a specific situation or fear, which usually fades over time.
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7 Strategies to Treat Anxiety in Children and Adolescents
The first solution is for parents to have 30 to 60 minutes of sincere communication with their child every day, meaning they play with him and be one of the parents’ partners in the game. Playing does not mean playing video games or the child playing with his own toys, but parents should also actively participate in the game.This active participation should not be in the role of parents, but rather as a friend and playmate of the child. During the game, parents do not have the right to educate, forbid, punish, scold, etc., and should only play and sometimes even participate in the child’s mischief. This issue requires awareness and education of the parents. At this time, parents should devote themselves entirely to the child and are not even allowed to answer phone calls, check on food, etc.
Spending this one hour with your child assures them that they have a safe hour during the day to behave and play as they are, without unnecessary constraints.On the other hand, the child is assured that his parents are by his side, that they have not left him alone, and that they care about his needs. The fact that parents put themselves on the child’s level and play with him gives him a sense of security, and a sense of security is the opposite of anxiety and stress.
To increase the level and quality of play, parents can dedicate a full, specific hour to it during the day.
The second exercise is drawing and coloring. Parents can provide drawing and coloring materials and ask their child to draw a picture of a desired subject and color it in their choice, or they can provide a coloring book and ask them to color the shapes as they like. When coloring, the creative part of the child’s brain begins to function and hormones that counteract the cortisol hormone are released, calming the child.
The third exercise is playing with sand, dirt, play dough, etc. The child can play with dirt, mud, or dough while wearing appropriate clothing, which will help the child relax.
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The fourth exercise is proper breathing and massage. The child should be trained to take deep breaths several times a day to get adequate oxygen to the blood and brain. Relaxation exercises are suitable for children and parents and can help calm them down. Proper massage for the child can also help reduce stress and anxiety. Proper massage and breathing increase oxygen supply to the brain and help calm them down.
The fifth thing is to have proper nutrition. Consuming fatty foods, fast food, sweets, coffee, and caffeine is not suitable for the child, and consuming vegetables, meat, protein, herbal teas, etc. is helpful.
The sixth thing is that if they have the means and conditions, parents can get a pet for the child so that he can bond with it and be responsible for taking care of it. Of course, the pet must be lovable to the child and not scare him because it can cause fear and exacerbate anxiety.
The seventh item is affection and hugging the child, which can play a significant role in reducing his stress and anxiety. The important thing is that anxiety cannot be cured by itself, but can worsen over time, so its diagnosis and treatment are very important. For this purpose, you can contact the consultants of Sepidaran روان Complex.