ANXIETY IN THE FAMILY?

Are you a worrier and is your child a worrier too? So often, when there is a parent who is worrying excessively about their child being anxious, that parent probably has a history of being “a worrier” too.  And if you go back another generation, one of those grandparents very likely had some “worries of their own”.  So, on and on it goes.

There are a couple of factors that are probably involved in perpetuating this family trait. There can be a biological predisposition to anxiety, just as there is to depression, diabetes, addiction and other disorders. When a parent has anxiety, children often intuitively know how their parent is feeling, even if their parent doesn’t say a word.  The parent worrying about their child reinforces the child’s anxiety and a vicious cycle begins.  

So what is a parent to do?  The first thing that a parent really needs to do is to take care of their own anxiety.  There are many different strategies that a parent can use to decrease their anxiety and different techniques and therapies that can help.  At the same time, the child can be taught strategies of their own to decrease their “worries” and parents can brainstorm with their child about ways to handle stressful situations.

If your family is the “anxious type”, you don’t have to just continue to worry; there are steps you can take to decrease your own anxiety and that of your child, and start to break the “cycle of worrying”.

For more information go to www.CounselingbytheShore.com