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Anxiety

It’s quite natural for children to worry and to be anxious at various stages of school and home life.

Most children will learn how to manage their thoughts, feelings and emotions, but some may need extra support.

Anxiety can become a problem when:

  • there isn’t a clear reason for it
  • it disrupts a young person’s life at home or school on a regular basis
  • the problem has gone but the feeling of fear or panic hasn’t
  • it interferes with their ability to take part in activities
  • they struggle to complete tasks that other children do easily
  • their fear or worry seems out of proportion to the problem
  • they become anxious or fearful more easily, or more often, or more intensely than other children
  • it leads to unhelpful and unrealistic thoughts about themselves and others

Spotting the signs

A child with an anxiety disorder may display physical and emotional symptoms including:

  • headaches and stomach aches or just feeling unwell
  • dizziness/faintness/palpitations/ breathlessness /sweating
  • not sleeping
  • not eating properly
  • being clingy/feeling panicky/tearful
  • seeming to be worried or anxious and needing lots of reassurance
  • feeling down or depressed
  • having difficulty concentrating
  • wanting things to be perfect and getting frustrated if they’re not
  • lashing out at others
  • hyper-alertness and difficulty keeping still

Using the Mentally Healthy Schools website has provided me with crucial learning, information and strategies to support children [with panic or anxiety attacks].

– Learning mentor, primary school

Find out more about common anxiety disorders in children

MindEd is a free educational e-learning resource for professionals on children and young people’s mental health. The following sessions aim to help staff better understand how anxiety affects children:

  • The worried child: describes anxiety and worry in children and teens and discusses how to react to them.
  • Anxiety disorders: outlines how common anxieties present in children and young people, and how to assess and treat them.

Please note: Although resources may reference secondary school children, information is still of use to those in primary settings.

Top Tips

Explore ways to help a child cope with their anxieties and worries.

Try working together to test out fears gradually - setting small, specific goals (for example, speaking to a small group in their class and then building up perhaps to a larger group).

Stay calm, supportive and practical.

Try not to get drawn into a child’s emotions. Praise and reward small (and big) successes when a child faces their fears. It can help them if you remain positive and encouraging, without forcing them into anything.

Focus on what helps.

Instead of trying to reassure a child that nothing bad will happen, focus on what helped them cope when they faced a similar situation. Help a child think through what they have learned about their fears and about themselves. Did their worry come true? Did they cope?

What schools can do

A number of universal and targeted school-based programmes are proven to help prevent children being overwhelmed by anxiety and to learn effective coping skills.

But some children need a little extra help, either through school pastoral care/counselling support, through referral to the school nurse or through referral to community-based support.

Concerned about a child?

If you are worried that a child is at risk involve your designated safeguarding lead as a matter of priority who will contact the parents/carers and other services as necessary. If the child is at immediate risk, ensure that they are taken to their GP or A&E as a matter of urgency, depending on the severity of the concern.

Find out more

Related resources

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Managing separation anxiety

A US webpage on helping parents and children manage separation anxiety.

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MindEd: parenting a child with issues

MindEd: parenting a child with issues

MindEd is a free educational resource on children and young people's mental health for all adults.

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Anxiety resources

Anxiety resources

Resource from Childline to help children understand and cope with anxiety, stress and worry.

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Panic attacks and anxiety

Panic attacks and anxiety

Video (5 mins) for school staff to understand how children might feel when suffering from panic...

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