Anxiety, part 1

​​Let’s talk about anxiety.  Today’s article will discuss the typical experience of anxiety, fear or worry that everyone encounters.  If you are concerned that anxiety is more than every day, I have some further information at the end of this article.
 
First up let’s get our minds into anxiety mode.  Think about a near miss situation when you were driving a car. How did you feel during and immediately after this situation?  Did you get back in your car the next day?  Did anything change in your driving behaviour?
Anxiety is something that our thinking mind creates which is reflected in our bodies.  From an evolutionary perspective anxiety is a useful adaptation because it helped to keep us safe from sabre tooth tigers and other hazards in the environment.  The anxiety helps us to consider, plan and strategize how to keep ourselves safe.  In our modern world there are certainly things which anxiety legitimately helps us to negotiate safely.












The picture above illustrates the typical pathway for anxious feelings.  We start at a baseline of feeling confident and able to manage a situation without concern.  Something triggers a rise in anxiety which will reach a natural peak and then begin to subside until we reach baseline again.   Problems commonly occur when we interrupt the process of:

1. becoming more alert or aroused
2. facing the situation that is triggering the anxiety/fear/worry
3. allowing the anxiety to subside as we manage the situation.  

When the process is interrupted individuals begin to think that they are incapable or unable of managing the situation.  They lack the experience of being able to solve the difficulty for themselves.  It can also trigger the belief that because someone intervened there was a real reason for them to intervene.  In other words, the problem is so serious or difficult that it merited outside involvement.  Young people who have had an interrupted experience of anxiety can then lack the confidence and understanding to tolerate the uncomfortable feelings that are associated with anxiety.  Feeling anxious is not a pleasant feeling but most of us know that if we tolerate these feelings for a period while we manage the situation eventually those feelings will subside.  Someone who has had the natural process of experiencing anxiety changed does not know that the uncomfortable feelings will naturally subside.
 
When should parents seek professional help for anxiety?
·     If your child’s worries/anxiety significantly interfere with the child or family daily functioning and routines.
·     The worries/anxiety are not age appropriate.
·     The worries/anxiety persist across an extended period (longer than 6 months).
Questions to ask about your situation to help decide whether further support is needed.
·     Is anxiety stopping my child from doing the things they want or need to do?
·     Do most children of the same age also have the same fear or worry?
·     How severe is my child’s reaction? (sourced online from the Macquarie university centre for emotional health).
 
Next month I’ll talk about some of the helpful things parents and teachers can do to support young people to manage anxiety.

---