Parenting and Anxiety

April 1, 2021

Being able to manage your own anxieties as well as your child’s may seem impossible. To help cope with the stress and anxiety of parenting, it is important to remember that just about every parent has worries from time to time and anxiety is normal.

Empathize and educate

Acknowledge your child’s feelings and let them know you hear them. Let them know that anxiety is normal and okay.

Encourage

Help dispel worry by shifting focus to controllable things. Proactively start a game or activity that engages with your child and gets their mind of their worries. 

Accept your boundaries and limitations.

Notice the physical cues of anxiety; for example fatigue, irritability, anger and excessive worry. Learn what you can handle and ask for help when needed. 

Model appropriate responses to stressors. 

Your children will look to you in how to respond in stressful situations. If you can breathe and take a step back before you react, your reaction will be more proportionate. 

Check your own coping skills.

Take time to cope when you are stressed. Take a walk, journal, breathe, talk to a trusted friend; whatever you need to pause and reset. 

When in doubt, reach out to a professional to seek help.