Common Causes of Anxiety in Indian Children

Introduction

In today's life, parents often get worried about their child’s energy levels. Among school, their extracurricular activities and playtime schedule, kids are involved in some active work. But this continuous daily activity requires uninterrupted energy for daily activities and effective concentration. Still, irregular dietary habits or taking long intervals among meals cause fatigue with irritability along with lack of concentration.

The secret to your child having sustained energy is through regular, well-balanced meals and snacks. These helps maintain energy levels, support healthy growth, cognitive development, and overall well-being. Skipping meals or relying on junk food causes energy crashes, poor academic performance, and health issues over time. Parents can help their kids thrive both physically and mentally by understanding the importance of timing, nutrition, and portion control.

An Introduction: Anxiety

Anxiety is a very vast concept that can be triggered for countless reasons. Anxiety is a state of emotion that causes negative feelings to arise in children. Anxiety can trigger negative emotions like fear, nervousness, shyness, coy personality, laziness, constant overthinking, and many others. Anxious children are more prone to physical and mental vulnerability, making them weaker in nature. Staying in a state of anxiousness is not good for children's mental health. Anxiousness is an early sign of bad mental health or poor emotion management in children. Anxious children lack confidence, self-esteem, assurance and struggle to stand out as independent.

Early Signs Of Anxiety In Children

Here are a few things to notice or observe for signs to know if your child is anxious.

6-10 Years Of Age

• The child will be fearful during open conversations.
• The child will also have a loss of hunger and appetite with constant mood swings.
• The child will act scared and coy.

11-14 Years Of Age

• The child will avoid eating because of hunger or appetite.
• Children might have constant mood swings and show introverted personalities.
• Nail biting and hair snatching are common in children when they are anxious.

15+ Years Of Age

• Teenage children can also suffer from nail-biting and hair-scratching habits.
• Sweaty palms and feet can also indicate anxiousness.
• Stuttering in speech can also be seen in anxious teenagers.
• Loss of appetite and mood swings are common.
• Low blood pressure and obsessive habits like obsessive compulsive disorder and others can affect a child who is in an anxious state.

Common Causes Of Anxiety In Indian Children

India is a country where mental health awareness is rapidly changing. Earlier, due to a lack of knowledge, parents were first to push around the child, not knowing what to do in such conditions. Nowadays, younger parents are more emotionally aware and attentive to their children's mental health. Here are a few reasons that cause anxiety in Indian children to look out for.

Bullying

Bullying can cause children to be nervous around classmates and teachers. Although schools and colleges have anti-bullying cells, children might be fearful of incidents which can cause them to overthink.

Poor Environment

Poor living environments and violent localities can also instigate fear in children, making them anxious. A poor environment can also be seen in families with too many disputes.

Ignorance

Parents who are overworking and ignoring their children can be the reason for children's anxiousness. Children in such conditions are often scared to face everything alone without their parent's support, putting them into constant anxiety.

Societal Pressure

Teenagers face tremendous societal pressure for an infinite number of reasons, such as body shaving, academic validation, religious sentiments, etc. Societal pressure in India has a bad reputation for blaming, which should be eradicated by proper awareness.

Academic Validation

Academic validation is again one of the largest issues in anxious children. Fear of failure, low self-esteem, parental pressure, overbearing expectations, and many other things can make children anxious about academic validation.

Different Ways to Calm Anxious Children

Children need to learn how to calm down. Parents can help their children through these methods.

• Open communication: Open communication can be very helpful in creating a sense of security and assurance in children. On the other hand, parents will also get to know what is going on in their children's lives, giving a more solid solution.
• Showing support: One of the most important things a child needs during their struggle is support and understanding from parents. Showing support to anxious children can help them get out of their overthinking.

Parents should always emphasize professional ways when the state of anxiousness is affecting mental health severely in children. Child counseling and child therapy are some ways parents can help their child with professional assistance.

Conclusion

Anxiety is a severe issue in children, which distracts them from having a healthy future. It also creates lots of burdens in children's minds, which can be harmful in the future, affecting their mental health. Children are still young. They need the guidance of parents to navigate through anxiousness and be happy and carefree. Help your child live happily without any burden.