Understanding Anxiety for Young People
What is Anxiety?
- Anxiety is a normal human response, everyone, children and adults experience worries, fears and anxiety some of the time.
- Anxiety is a response to feeling threatened or in danger, even if that threat or danger is a thought, image or memory.
- Anxiety is there to keep us safe and in the short term it is helpful, however, it is when these feelings continue and there is no actual threat that anxiety can become a problematic.
How might this affect me?
Anxiety can affect our physical sensations(feelings in our bodies), thoughts, and behaviours.
Physical: heart rate increases, breathing getting faster, sweaty hands, dry mouth, feeling shaky, ‘butterflies’ in the tummy. This can be scary if you have not experienced it before, or know what is happening to you, but it is your body getting ready for action, these feelings will cause you no harm.
- Thoughts: When people become anxious, they will commonly think ‘something bad’ is going to happen, and also have “what if” or negative thoughts:
- Thoughts about what other people think of you or worries about being judged negatively and not feeling good enough
- Thoughts that something bad will happen to you or the people you love and care about
- Thoughts about your safety and health (including worries about germs and contamination)
- Uncontrollable constant worry about lots of things (like school, the future, health, world events)
Behaviours: The way we respond to fears or worries can be split into: (1) FLIGHT (2) FIGHT (3) FREEZE
What can I do to help myself?
- Remember that you are not alone. Some worries may seem very real and very scary.
- Tell a trusted person how you are feeling no matter what your worries are. This may cause you to worry, but it will help, you could even write it down or draw it.
- Although anxiety feels horrible, remember these feelings will pass and the physical sensations cannot harm you.
- Find activities, such as watching TV, spending time with friends, reading, making things and listening to music, going on a walk, or spending time with a pet, to distract you.
- Remember things like exams, school work/ deadlines can cause anxiety, but anxiety can also help motivate us, help us perform well, help us prepare for the exam/test/ deadlines.
When would a referral to CAMHS be appropriate?
When anxiety does not go away, even when there is no threat or danger, and it is stopping you enjoying things and doing things other children your age are doing.
If you would like to speak with a Mental Health Professional, you can call: CAMHS, (Monday-Friday between 2pm-4pm) on (01387)244662. Please note, we aim to speak with you on the same day, however during busy times this may happen the following day.
What can I expect?
Following a referral to CAMHS if we think we might be the best service to help you, then we will offer you a first assessment appointment.
We might then sign post you to other services, offer brief help or provide specialist help depending on the difficulties you are experiencing.
You will be signposted or provided with lots of resources to help with education around this difficulty.
Understanding Anxiety for Parents & Carers
How do I know if my child has anxiety?
Anxiety is completely normal, we all experience anxiety. Anxiety keeps us safe, it is when anxiety continues and there is no real threat or danger that anxiety can become problematic.
Can you remember going for a job interview, or driving test, when you dropped your child off on their first day at school? All the physical feelings you felt. Yes, it is uncomfortable, but no harm came to you.
Anxiety can impact individuals, thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. You may notice avoidance behaviours, remember this may help in the short term but in the long term it can feed the anxiety.
How might this affect them?
Anxiety can impact individuals, thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. You may notice avoidance behaviours such as ignoring your requests or finding reasons not to do something, remember this may help in the short term but in the long term it can feed the anxiety.
What can I do to help my child?
The best way to help a child overcome anxiety isn’t to try to remove stressors that trigger it. It’s to help them learn to tolerate their anxiety and still keep going, as well as they can, even when they’re anxious. And as a by product of that, the anxiety will get less over time.
Remind them that they cannot avoid all the things that make them feel anxious so encourage them to face their FEARs with confidence by following these four steps;
- Focus – rather than worry about the past, future or the unknown, focus on the present moment, the here and now
- Expose – the more they face their fears the easier it will become to manage. Just remember to take small steps at a time, we don’t want to overwhelm anyone
- Approach – the fear of experiencing anxiety is often worse than the situation they are avoiding. Encourage them to face their fear and see for themselves that the situation probably isn’t as bad as they are predicting.
- Remind them that they have been anxious before, that those feelings passed, that they coped and were ok. It is also important to remember your child’s age and stage of development, teenagers may spend more time in their room, sleep more and lose interest in activities that they loved previously.
When would a referral to CAMHS be appropriate?
When anxiety does not go away, even when there is no threat or danger, and it is stopping you enjoying things and doing things other children your age are doing.
What can I expect?
Following a referral to CAMHS if we think we might be the best service to help your child, then we will offer you a first assessment appointment.
We might then sign post you to other services, offer brief help or provide specialist help depending on the difficulties you are experiencing.
If a treatment plan is identified, you may be asked to participate in some treatment programmes alongside your child.