Tips for Parent: Anxiety Treatments for Children

Anxiety, just like any human disorder has to be treated. For an anxiety treatments for children to effectively work, the root cause of the problem must be first determined. There are many causes of anxiety disorders but it is relatively easier to determine their causes in children. Children can be interviewed or talked to by parents and therapists to discover the origin of their depression. Once the symptoms of the anxiety disorder manifest in the individual, thorough assessments can be made by investigating the circumstances and factors that led to the disorder. In children, this is not very difficult because the scope of influences affecting them is narrow. Aside from their situation in the family and school environment, their acquired living habits are fairly determinable especially if the parents cooperate.

Once the causes of the problem are determined, the right anxiety treatments for children can be prescribed. Children are impressionable and can easily be taught. Anxiety is an emotional problem and children can learn the skills needed to cope with it. Children suffer anxiety for a variety of reasons. Feelings of inadequacy, pressure from parents to perform well in school, being separated from parents and fear of some animals like lizards, snakes or spiders can cause severe anxiety. For all these reasons, the corresponding response can be taught to the affected children encouraging them to recognize and overcome fear.

Of course, psychotherapy treatments done by a professional is a better option if symptoms have already manifested and there is already some difficulty of handling the changes in the behavior of the affected children. The therapy can be done on a one-on-one basis or through group therapy. The observation that treatment by group therapy has better results is gaining ground. Children in group therapy seem to react better and more effectively learn from each other in understanding the lessons taught. Exercises like role model playing and talking about each individual's anxiety experience build more confidence because of the interaction within the group.

Another effective anxiety treatment is the one that can be administered by the parents and members of the family. Here, the love and affection shown by the parents and other members of the family reassure the affected children and give them confidence to overcome their fears. Some children suffer anxiety from constant separation from their parents. When children are left by themselves by parents who sometimes have to work in far places, they are subjected to stress and develop anxiety disorder symptoms. In cases like these, older members of the family like uncles or aunts can play the role of parents and explain to the affected child the situations that cause the problem. They can also teach the child the right actions and reactions of a child when left alone with a sitter and their parents are not there. The intimate bonding with parents and members of the family makes the anxiety treatments for children better.

Medication is seldom used in anxiety treatments for children. While some medicines give relief to the symptoms to anxiety, they are rarely used by therapists on young patients. They can cause addiction and some side effects are not well tolerated by some children.