What can we do to help our stressed out kids?

Lately I have been seeing far too many children, even very young children, struggling with overwhelming stress and anxiety.  Anxious kids are irritable, have trouble paying attention, excessive worries or fears, trouble sleeping, or other physical symptoms.  There are probably a variety of reasons for increasing anxiety including our changing culture; the growing social demands on children, and even the big dreams we have for our kids.  We want them to happy, healthy and successful, and of course it’s great to want these things for our kids but this can cause our kids to feel pressure and anxiety.

So what can we do to help our kids?  First, we need to make sure we are taking time to really listen to our kids.  This allows us to pick up on the signs that our kids are stressed and to identify the issues that are causing the problems.  Once we know what is causing the anxiety, we can help kids deal with it in a healthy way. 

We can model and teach our kids simple coping tools such as taking a few deep breaths or doing something to take our minds off our worry.  Spending time outside/in nature and exercising are also very effective in relieving stress and anxiety.

We also need to be aware of how our kids are using the internet and limit screen time.  This is a huge struggle today as kids love their devices.  We want them to be able to keep up with technology but too much or the wrong kinds of usage can contribute to stress and anxiety.

I think one of the most important things we can do is to keep our family schedules from getting out of control.  That’s hard but remember kids need family time and we all need rest.  Make time to have dinner together at least once a week or have family game or movie night regularly.

If your kids have been showing signs of stress or anxiety and you’ve tried some of the ideas in this article but they are still struggling, you may need some outside help.  Give me a call for a consultation and we can talk about the best way to help your child(ren) get back on track.