Anxious thoughts are a common problem for parents and children alike - arising from school, work, relationships and uncertainty about the future.
When these thoughts become frequent fixtures in the mind, they can lead to unhelpful coping mechanisms - like avoiding worrying situations, having tantrums and changing eating habits. If these thoughts take over they can even lead to depression.
So, how do you tackle these anxious thoughts as they appear? How do you help your child to do the same? In this film, Dr Anna Colton shows you a breathing exercise that can help to soothe anxiety and panic…
Dr Anna demonstrates a breathing technique to manage anxiety.
Dr Anna: Lots of parents struggle with anxiety and so do children and young people. And when you're anxious you often hear people say, 'well just take a deep breath and you'll feel better'. But actually, this is the wrong advice, because the focus needs to be on the out breath, not on the in breath.
And the reason for this is when we get anxious, we often breathe in a really shallow way and very fast, just from our chest. And this means that we take in too much oxygen and we feel dizzy and sick, we get headaches and we can hyperventilate.
So I'm going to show you my favourite breathing technique to deal with this. And all you need to do is take a deep breath in, and then, whilst you're tracing around your hand with your other hand you breathe out, just like this.
You can do it a few times in a row and once you've done that you'll feel more in control, you'll feel calmer and less anxious.
Dr Anna's technique
- You may have heard people say, "take a deep breath in", when you're panicking, but, although breathing is a great way to help manage anxiety or panic, we should be focusing on the out breath, not the in breath.
- When we're anxious, we tend to breathe in a very shallow, fast way - which can lead to us feeling shaky, nauseous and dizzy, or developing headaches.
- Take a deep breath in, and trace round your hand with your other hand, on the out breath.
- Continue to do this a few times in a row, until you feel calmer and more in control.
Try this technique yourself, or, if your child is struggling with anxiety, you could talk them through it step-by-step.
For more ways to tackle anxiety, take a look at the Parents' Toolkit collection.
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