{"id":190277,"date":"2018-10-17T11:54:01","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T15:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/?p=190277"},"modified":"2022-07-13T12:29:44","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T16:29:44","slug":"5-things-i-wish-people-knew-about-my-anxiety-a-kids-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/5-things-i-wish-people-knew-about-my-anxiety-a-kids-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Things I Wish People Knew About My Anxiety (A Kid\u2019s Perspective)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re my family or friend, I know the way I worry all the time can be frustrating and exhausting. I want you to know, I feel the same. One of the worst things about my worry is how hard it is for me to talk about in the moment. Or after the moment. Or, really, just ever. I don\u2019t like to feel different or broken. Nobody does. More than anything, I wish I didn\u2019t feel so anxious, but I also wish that others had a better understanding of what I felt. If you love me and want to help me, there are a some things I need you to know.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1.  I worry about being worried.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of my biggest worries is that I worry too much. Sometimes people call me “a little worrier” or ” worry wart\u201d and I know they\u2019re not trying to be mean, but it hurts mostly because I think it\u2019s true. Sometimes I\u2019m worried that no one will ever understand what I\u2019m going through or that I\u2019ll ever belong. It’s especially bad when I\u2019m tired or frustrated. I worry. Then I worry about my worry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Telling me to \u2018relax\u2019 isn’t really relaxing.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I know I need to learn how to relax<\/a> or calm down when I get really anxious. But hearing people say, “Just relax,” or that \u201cIt\u2019s no big deal\u201d reminds me that I\u2019m not doing things right. There\u2019s a lot going on in my brain all the time: once I went to the fair and saw one of those people that spin lots of plates on poles\u2026 it feels like that. Relaxing is actually really hard for me. I know you\u2019re not trying to do this, but to hear you make relaxing sound so simple actually makes me feel worse. When my emotions take over, there\u2019s nothing else. All I can see are those big, overwhelming feelings. All I can see are the plates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. I like to know a lot about the things I don’t know a lot about.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not knowing what comes next is one of things that makes me worry the most. This is why I ask so many questions about things that are going to happen at school, parties, and when I meet new people. I like to know as much as possible ahead of time so I can think about how I\u2019m going to act or what I\u2019m going to do. Sometimes I even ask really off-the-wall questions that\u2019ll probably never happen, but it\u2019s my way of dealing with being nervous. Please be patient with me. It means a lot when you listen and respond without getting really frustrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Sometimes I forget how awesome I am.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I feel calm, I know I\u2019m a good person. I know I have strengths and talents and abilities. But sometimes worry takes over my life to the point that it\u2019s all I can see in myself. I only see my fear, how I\u2019m different, and worst of all, I feel that others can only see those painful things, too. I forget that I\u2019m capable. I forget that I\u2019m loved. Sometimes I need to be reminded that I\u2019m brave, awesome, and unique. I know I need to remind myself too. I know, which brings me to my last point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. I\u2019m trying.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I really am. I\u2019m not trying to play you. I don\u2019t like the attention I get from my anxiety. I want to learn to control my worry. I\u2019m trying all the time, and you can help. Let me rephrase that: I need your help. Encourage my baby steps and small victories. Support and love me when I fail. It helps me to keep trying when you remind me that some worry is normal, that you worry sometimes, too, and that the scary feelings will eventually pass. I trust you more than anyone in the world, and I know I can do this with you on my side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teach any child the coping skills necessary to manage stress and anxiety<\/a> – learn more here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re my family or friend, I know the way I worry all the time can be frustrating and exhausting. I want you to know, I feel the same. One of the worst things about my worry is how hard it is for me to talk about in the moment. Or after the moment. Or, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":199059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[180,583,585,584],"class_list":["post-190277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gozen-anxiety-relief","tag-anxiety-in-children","tag-anxious-kids","tag-resilience-programs","tag-resilience-skills-kids","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}