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Anxiety and Depression

Signs of Anxiety

Table 1 summarizes the major thinking/learning, behavioral and physical signs of anxiety.  Not all children will show all signs or show the same signs to the same degree, but a stable pattern that interferes with performance may be cause for concern.  The usual signs of anxiety differ between the anxious and non-anxious child primarily in degree, and may be shown in one or more of the following ways:

  • Excessive or atypical for age or developmental level
  • Inappropriate or excessive for the situation on a frequent basis
  • Have persisted for several weeks or months

 

Signs of Anxiety

Home-Based Interventions for Anxiety

Because some anxious children also tend to demonstrate these patterns at home, parents can do much to help.  Some suggestions include:

  • Be consistent in how you handle problems and administer discipline
  • Be patient and be prepared to listen
  • Avoid being overly critical, disparaging, impatient, or cynical
  • Maintain realistic, attainable, goals and expectations for your child
  • Do not communicate that perfection is expected or acceptable
  • Maintain consistent but flexible routines for homework, chores, activities, etc.
  • Accept that mistakes are a normal part of growing up and that no one is expected to do everything equally well
  • Praise and reinforce effort, even if success is less than expected. Practice and rehearse upcoming events, such as giving a speech or other performance.
  • Teach your child simple strategies to help with anxiety, such as organizing materials and time, developing small scripts of what to do and say to himself or herself when anxiety increases, and learning how to relax under stressful conditions
  • Do not treat feelings, questions, and statements about feeling anxious as silly or unimportant
  • Often, reasoning is not effective in reducing anxiety. Do not criticize your child for not being able to respond rational approaches
  • Seek outside help if the problem persists and continues to interfere with daily activities

Information taken from the National Association of School Psychologist's website below:https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources/mental-health/mental-health-disorders/anxiety-and-anxiety-disorders-in-children-information-for-parents

Free Anxiety Tracker Tool in PDF: Anxiety Tracker Tool

Signs of Depression

Table 1 summarizes some of the more common signs of depression that may warrant consideration, particularly if several signs are present consistently. Many of these symptoms could easily be mistaken for behavior problems associated with academic or social difficulties, such as apathy, low performance, or uncooperativeness. It is important for school personnel to know the signs so that early identification and intervention can occur.

Signs of Depression

Information taken from the National Association of School Psychologist's website below: https://www.nasponline.org/search/search-results?keywords=depression