Recognising Signs of Anxiety

Teaching Children to Recognise When They are Anxious

If children are able to identify when they are feeling anxious, they can communicate this to an adult who can help them employ strategies to calm down and relax. They can also learn to employ strategies themselves to manage their own anxiety.

Children can be taught to identify anxiety and other emotions in two different ways. First, they may be taught emotions directly and explicitly. They may be shown an image of an anxious person while the adult labels this emotion as anxiety and describes what it feels like. The adult may note that when someone feels anxious, they can feel dizzy, their breathing might get quicker, their heart might beat faster and they might start sweating.

An adult can also take the opportunity to teach a child about anxiety in a moment when the child appears to be feeling anxious themselves. The adult may ask the child to think about how they are breathing and how fast their heart is beating. They may also ask the child to look in the mirror and notice if their face is red or sweating. The adult can then point out that in the moment, the child is experiencing anxiety. The child can then attach the label of ‘anxiety’ to this set of feelings. Teaching such as this should be done when the child is only mildly or moderately anxious. Further discussion about anxiety should be left until after the child has returned to a calm state.

To listen to Dr.Patricia Daly discuss how to teach emotional resilience, please click here.

In some cases, children may not be able to tell us when they are anxious. For children with complex needs, it can be up to the caregiver to recognise when a child is anxious. Caregivers should use their knowledge of the child’s typical behaviour and engagement in order to notice when the child appears to be displaying possible signs of anxiety, irritability or depression, as explained by Dr. Patricia Daly in the video below.