{"id":553,"date":"2019-05-29T07:55:31","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T06:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vps31252.alfahosting-vps.de\/wordpress\/?page_id=553"},"modified":"2020-05-27T08:10:51","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T07:10:51","slug":"acutegeneralinformationsupport6_anxiety_en","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/?page_id=553&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It&#8217;s very common for children and adolescents to be more anxious in the first month after a traumatic event. They often try to avoid situations, thoughts or persons that remind them of the traumatic event.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Separation Anxiety<\/h3>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: square;\">\n<li>It&#8217;s common for separation anxiety to appear or intensify after a traumatic event.<\/li>\n<li>Many children don\u2019t like to be separated from their parents in the first few weeks.<\/li>\n<li>Explain to your child that they will feel soon like before the event again.<\/li>\n<li>Minimize separations and keep separations as brief as possible in the beginning.<\/li>\n<li>Try to be close to your child, especially if your child is hospitalized.<\/li>\n<li>For brief separations, let your child know where you are going and when you will be back.<\/li>\n<li>Say goodbye briefly, and don\u2019t prolong the situation. Make sure your child is engaged in an enjoyable activity before you leave.<\/li>\n<li>You can increase your child\u2019s feelings of safety by giving them something that they like or something that reminds them of you (for example, a scarf).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Sleeping problems<\/h3>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: square;\">\n<li>In the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event, many children and even adolescents do not want to sleep alone in their bed or their room.<\/li>\n<li>Explain to your child that their anxieties will decrease very soon.<\/li>\n<li>If your child asks to sleep in your bedroom this may be helpful for a limited time (e.g. 3 nights), preferably on a separate mattress.<\/li>\n<li>Sometimes it&#8217;s helpful for the child to sleep with a sibling in the same room. Only allow it when the sibling isn\u2019t disturbed and agrees to this.<\/li>\n<li>Help your child to feel comfortable in their room. Your child`s feeling of safety can be increased by giving them something that they like, or something that reminds them of you (e.g. a pillow, a scarf, etc.). You can also put up a dream catcher in your child\u2019s room.<\/li>\n<li>Establish a bedtime ritual (read a bedtime story, review the day, etc.).<\/li>\n<li>Help your child to think about something nice before going to bed.<\/li>\n<li>Try to ensure that your child has no excitement one hour before bedtime (video games, TV, etc.).<\/li>\n<li>If your child finds it difficult to fall asleep, let them listen to an audio book, podcast or music. Most children then fall asleep by themselves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Excessive worries<\/h3>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: square;\">\n<li>It&#8217;s very common that children and adolescents have more worries and concerns after experiencing a traumatic event. Take your time to find out what kind of worries your child has.<\/li>\n<li>Sometimes children and even adolescents find it difficult to say what&#8217;s upsetting them. Describe feelings like anger, sadness or fear, and ask your child which of these feelings they have. You can, for example, draw emoticons\/ smileys for different feelings on paper.<\/li>\n<li>Assure your child that you and other adults protect them and explain to them that they are safe now.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t urge your child to speak about the traumatic event but let them know that they can speak about their worries and anxieties with you at any time.<\/li>\n<li>Your child&#8217;s feeling of safety can be increased by giving him or her something that they like, or something that reminds them of you (e.g. a pillow, a scarf, etc.).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Avoiding speaking about the traumatic event<\/h3>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: square;\">\n<li>A lot of children and adolescents have difficulties telling what upsets them.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t force your child to speak, but let them know, that they can speak about their worries and concerns with you at any time.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t wait until your child mentions the traumatic event by themselves. Instead, offer your child opportunities to speak about the traumatic event.<\/li>\n<li>Talk openly with your child about the traumatic event and encourage them to express their feelings.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid discussing your own fears and worries with your child.<\/li>\n<li>Provide appropriate drawing and play material for your child; many children will use this to express their feelings about the traumatic event.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Fear of things, people or places which remind your child of the traumatic event<\/h3>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: square;\">\n<li>Fear of trauma-related reminders is very common after a traumatic event.<\/li>\n<li>Often children and adolescents try to avoid trauma-related reminders such as specific places or people. The longer a child\/ adolescent avoids such things, the longer this behavior will last.<\/li>\n<li>Explain to your child that it`s normal to be scared by bad memories and that these memories and worries will go away over the next weeks.<\/li>\n<li>Help your child to understand that remembering something doesn\u2019t mean experiencing it again. Memories are always about something in the past.<\/li>\n<li>Provide safety and let your child know that you will protect them.<\/li>\n<li>Try to help your child face fearful situations with courage. Praise your child for successfully facing scary situations, and reward brave behavior.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s very common for children and adolescents to be more anxious in the first month after a traumatic event. They often try to avoid situations, thoughts or persons that remind them of the traumatic event. \u00a0 Separation Anxiety It&#8217;s common for separation anxiety to appear or intensify after a traumatic event. Many children don\u2019t like [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3414,"parent":551,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Angst-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=553"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5755,"href":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/553\/revisions\/5755"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidtrauma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}