FAQ: What are anxiety disorders?
Articles:
Books:
- Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD: A Scientifically Proven Program for Parents by Eli R Lebowitz
- Chansky, T. E. (2004). Freeing your child from anxiety: Powerful, practical solutions to overcome your child’s fears, worries, and phobias. Broadway Books.
Coping Strategies:
- 3-3-3 Strategy for Anxiety
- If your child is getting caught up in anxious thoughts, you can try using the 3-3-3 technique.
- Here’s how to do it:
- Look around: Identify three things you can see. Take a moment to really observe these objects, noting their details, colors, and shapes. “This process helps to shift your focus from internal anxiety to your external environment,” says McInnis.
- Listen closely: Find three sounds you can hear. These could be as loud as a blaring siren or as subtle as the hum of an air conditioner.
- Move your body: Move three parts of your body. It could be as simple as rolling your shoulders, wiggling your toes, or turning your head. Pay attention to the sensations caused by each movement.
- 5-4-3-2-1 Strategy for Anxiety
- A simple and effective grounding exercise help individuals stay present and focused. This method is particularly useful during moments of high stress or panic, providing a structured way to observe and describe the environment. It can be done anywhere.
- 5: Acknowledge FIVE things you see around you. It could be a pen, a spot on the ceiling, anything in your surroundings.
- 4: Acknowledge FOUR things you can touch around you. It could be your hair, a pillow, or the ground under your feet.
- 3: Acknowledge THREE things you hear. This could be any external sound. If you can hear your belly rumbling that counts! Focus on things you can hear outside of your body.
- 2: Acknowledge TWO things you can smell. Maybe you are in your office and smell pencil, or maybe you are in your bedroom and smell a pillow. If you need to take a brief walk to find a scent you could smell soap in your bathroom, or nature outside.
- 1: Acknowledge ONE thing you can taste. What does the inside of your mouth taste like—gum, coffee, or the sandwich from lunch?