It feels like the word “anxiety” is saturated in our lives lately. There is anxiety in our schools. Lola, for example, has experienced anxiety with school shootings. I’ve also dealt with anxiety for years. And we hear it on the news all the time. Our podcast this week is Dr. Emily King. She is a licensed psychologist who specializes in working with kids with social and emotional difficulties. She also has a Parenting on Your Own Path blog you should check out. Dr. Emily talks about why anxiety is such a buzz word lately, why a certain amount of anxiety is important, how to recognize the symptoms, and when to ask for help.
Recognizing Anxiety Symptoms in Kids
To know how to help, you have to know what you’re dealing with. Dr. Emily walks us through signs and symptoms kids may exhibit. It may be a stomach ache at the same time every day or acting out in school. As parents, we may not have experienced the type of anxiety our children are truly feeling, so being able to recognize the signs is the first important step.
Anxiety Coping Skills
We had a thoughtful discussion on helping our kids with anxiety. Dr. Emily talks about timing and when it is a good time to work on certain issues. For example, Lola is anxious about flying, so pushing her to interact with a TSA agent to increase her social skills may not be the best timing. Dr. Emily also helps us understand when you should seek professional help, and when you can rely on home remedies for kids.
Throw in a discussion about genetics, and this is a podcast episode I’ll definitely listen to on repeat. While we hope you kiddos aren’t dealing with anxiety, we do hope this podcast episode helps if you are tackling this topic.
