How the Parents Can Help the Kids to Manage Stress? 7 Effective Ways to Choose.

Are our kids suffering from anxiety, tension or stress? Are they make themselves socially isolated? Are they struggling alone to manage their stress? All of these questions are the true reflection of the present condition of our kids who are really stressed, anxious, having phobia or fear of failure and struggling too much to cope with their situation. The report of UNICEF ‘ The State of the World’s Children’ published in 2021 examined the mental heath of children and adolescents and focuses on risks and protective factors. But often the parents are not aware of the stress in kids and cannot help the kids to manage stress.

So, it should be the prime concern of the parents and caregivers to learn the ways to help the kids to cope up with their stress, anxiety and phobia.

Common Signs of Stress in Kids

If we see the following signs and symptoms in our kids for a long period, we can say that our kids are suffering from stress, anxiety or tension. The kids often complain about-

. Headache, Nausea, not feeling well

. Eating Difficulties- don’t want to take food or eat too much junk food.

. Sleeping Difficulties, often nightmares, sometimes Bed wetting.

. Irritability, Continuous Nagging, Anxiety

. Sadness associated with crying spells and mood disorders

. Don’t like to play with friends, may prefer to be alone

. Often shows Temper Tantrums

. Stomachache, Indigestion or upset stomach

If the parents observe those type of symptoms in their kids for a long time without the presence any disease, they should take those as the warning signs of mental health disorders like acute anxiety, stress or others and may try to help the kids to manage stress.

Effective Ways to Help the Kids to Manage Stress

Parents are the first caregiver of their children- so they should know the ways to help their kids to cope with stress and anxiety. Some effective ways to deal with the mental health issues of children are stated here.

Talk with Your Kids

It’s the first and foremost way to help the kids to manage stress- the parents should always communicate with their children, ask them about their daily life- their school, friends or any other topic. If you see that they are calm and quiet than the as usual, you should ask them about their behavior like ‘why are you so quiet? Anything happened? Are you ok? Are you upset? etc. But always be patient, cool to talk with them, ask them in a soft voice, don’t scold them then so that they feel comfortable to share their issues with you. Teach them that Talking with someone Trustworthy is the best way to manage Stress.

Spend Quality Time with Kids

It’s the best way for the parents to help the kids to manage stress- Play with the kids whether indoor or outdoor game, go for a short walk or together take an ice-cream or any other snacks of their choice or just simply read a story book together. In between those activities, your kid’s attention from his\her stressors will surely be shifted to the game or storybook or others and he\she will feel the support of you in his\her life and will surly be able to manage stress, anxiety in his\her life.

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Find Out the Triggers of Stress

As a parent if you can identify the triggers of the stress, anxiety in your kids, it will be very beneficial for you and the kids because you will be able to keep those trigger points away from them as much as possible in order to help the kids to manage stress. For example, if your kid feel stress, anxiety for the academic pressure, you may try to cut down those pressure of if your child feel extreme stress in the coaching class of yoga, then no need to send him\her in that class etc. Later the parents may tell the kids also to identify the place and situation which are stressful to them and avoid those place and situation.

Teach them Some Relaxation Techniques

To help the kids to manage stress instantly, the parents can teach them some Relaxation techniques which are very beneficial to manage stress like Deep Breathing especially the Abdominal Breathing, Reverse Counting, Muscle Relaxation, Mindfulness Techniques etc. The Kids may need some time to learn these techniques but if they learn these they can manage their stress easily.

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Listening to Music

To help the kids to manage stress, the parents can tell them to listen some cool, soothing music as research shows that music are beneficial to manage stress- music have effect on the chemicals of brain like the feel-good chemical Dopamine and also the ‘love hormone ‘oxytocin. It also helps to lower the level of stress hormones. The soothing music especially the classical one are really helpful to manage stress.

Engagement In Play

To help the kids to manage stress, the parents can engage them in their favorite play so that they can forget about their issues. Playing help the children to distract their attention from the stressors of life and also feel-good chemicals are secreted in their brains to give them a sense of pleasure- happiness. Especially the outdoor play are very beneficial for the kids to make them both physically and mentally healthy.

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Art Therapy to Manage Stress

Parents can take the help of Art Therapy to help the kids to manage stress and anxiety in their life because the art works especially the visual art forms are the excellent way to describe the situation, the state of mind. The young kids can express their issues in depth through their art works than they can talk. Often it is found that the kids who are stressed, mentally disturbed draw the picture of family, house or an alone kid. The parents can encourage the kids to draw whatever they like to draw or just play with crayons and colors to state the issues of them whenever they feel stress or anxiety.

Words from Wingsofwishes.in

It’s now a challenge for all the parents to identify the onset of stress, anxiety in kids, help the kids to manage stress, anxiety or fear and also teach them the coping strategies to manage their mental health issues. But, the parents should take seriously the mental health issues in children and help the kids to overcome those with their support and care so that the kids can grow to their full potential.

References

1.What is stress? | UNICEF Parenting

2.How to recognize signs of distress in children | UNICEF Parenting

3.Signs of Stress in Children | Psych Central

It’s Not Just Adults Who Are Stressed. Kids Are, Too. – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

5.World Mental Health Report (who.int)