This is the time of year where our children face important and often difficult transitions: A five year-old starting kindergarten; a young tween entering middle school; a self-conscious teenager feeling awkward about themselves as they begin high school; the young adult leaving home, sometimes for the very first time, to discover themselves and their future. All transitions we face in our lives naturally tend to cause some anxiety. Parents need to acknowledge their children’s fears and self-doubts and seek help for them if they seem overwhelmed with anxiety.
Linda Carroll warns:
For some kids, though, the anxiety just ramps up with each passing day, and can then begin to interfere with their daily life. And that may be a sign of something more serious. Studies have shown that one in eight children suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder, and school is a particularly tough stressor for kids already wired for worry.
Our only defense as parents is to know the signs, which can sometimes be subtle, of a kid who is becoming overly anxious. And those signs tend to change as a kid ages.
An excellent video from NBC’s Today Show and Linda Carroll’s article here: