Many children experience high levels of anxiety when there is no apparent reason for their anxiety.
- Is it sensory? Some children may respond more or less intensely to touch, sounds or smells. The sensation of someone touching them (inadvertently), may be experienced as uncomfortable or even threatening. They might find loud noises scary, or become seriously disturbed by the sound of thunder or of high-pitched sounds. It may be that they have sensory processing difficulties. Their discomfort with certain sensations may result in a high level of apprehension and anxiety.
- Is it due to trauma? Some children have become anxious as a result of experiencing trauma. This trauma might not be that obvious, – for example, it might be that they remember an incident where the lights suddenly went out and they were stuck in the dark and unable to see. Children’s memory is only fully developed around age 5, so they might not even recall what made them anxious.
- Does your child experience separation anxiety? Babies and children like to be in their safe-space with their parents or the special people to whom they are emotionally attached. Being separated from their parents, or even the thought or threat that they might be separated can unleash tremendous anxiety.
These are just a few of the reasons underlying children’s anxiety. I can assist you in figuring what the underlying issue/s might be. Sometimes we don’t get to understand the cause, but we certainly can use a sensory integrative approach to meet their needs and to settle anxious babies and children.
