The Anxiety Before it Becomes a Fear or Phobia
In our society, children and adolescents can be easily witnessed traumatic events. This reality is experienced in a meaningful way through the media and sometimes children and adolescents may become witnesses of these events. There are times when parents and educators have to intervene to prevent from erroneous interpretations that can facilitate that fear becomes phobia to situations where the child or adolescent tolerates virtually the traumatic event like a video game.
Obviously not the same explanation that the child should be given the fact that lives in situ, that he who knows in other ways. However, the response must be equal regardless of the channel through which comes the stressful experience. A child or adolescent needs help understanding always a traumatic experience.
The aftermath of traumatic life events are known as PTSD. The best way to help these children not to deny the evidence (although it may be the child who denies it) but to provide an answer to seek reassurance. Thus, you can redirect the anxiety before it becomes a fear or phobia.
Thus, the immediate goal is to explain what happened, but without experiencing the situation, but by analyzing the facts to seek a satisfactory description redirect anxiety. It is necessary that the adult does not express the stress. In young children is very useful, but the word, to facilitate the projection of the events through play or drawing. Thus, the child has the opportunity to express their feelings, the perceived stressful event, what it means to him, to define their concerns, which may in turn be answered by the adult … This will help them adapt to normal.
It should give an objective answer, considering the life event as a specific event that occurs at a particular time, and never as a circumstance that may be able to condition their emotions.
In this sense, we must avoid falling into subjective interpretations, and in the immediate defense mechanism of children, that is denial. While passing through this stage, the experience of reality persists in his mind. And finally, it should allow time for assimilation. Early responses include seeking reassurance and anxieties, but it is also necessary, as cold and after a few days, remember and check that the event did not produce any result in the child emotionally.
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Posted in Children Health | 
Tags: children and adolescents, phobia to situations, the stressful experience, the traumatic