A website that I often recommend which has a treasure trove of resources to manage and understand anxiety is Hey Sigmund which is run by Karen Young, who is very active in providing support in this area.
https://www.heysigmund.com/

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A reminder that everyone has moments of sadness and anxiety.  
The link is to a fantastic youtube video that talks about emotions and helps children/young people to understand that mental health is similar to physical health and that everyone experiences difficult emotions at times.  There are lots of great ideas for support.  This one would be  great to watch with your child/young person. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxIDKZHW3-E&w=840&h=473

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When children find they are overwhelmed by emotions this poster gives some great ideas for managing them well.  This is a great visual for supporting children with self-regulation.
https://3ppsychologies.com/2018/11/08/resource-diary-entry-35-regulation-coping-strategies/

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To finish up my series of blogs on anxiety I’ve created a list of tried and true resources for you and your child/young person.​
As an educational psychologist, I've used a number of resources to support my work and these are a few that I am happy to recommend.  Not every resource will work for every person. If you don’t find it helpful or your child doesn’t seem to benefit from it then try something else.

• Mindfulness apps:
  • Smiling Minds (Australian, designed for schools, children as well as adults)
  • Calm (American, designed for both children and adults, has some exercise videos)
  • Headspace, (British, designed for both children and adults). These can be useful to help develop an awareness of the way thinking influences feelings, among other uses.

 

• Hey Sigmund, https://www.heysigmund.com/about/ (very comprehensive website focused on anxiety with a huge range of resources for a wide age range)

 

• 3P Psychologies, https://3ppsychologies.com/ (website covers more than just anxiety but is a treasure trove or useful resources)

 

• Helping your anxious child, second edition, Ronald Rapee, Ann Wignall, Susan Spence, Vanessa Cobham, Heidi Lyneham (excellent resource is you are facing persistent difficulties)

​​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.