Is this the missing key to solving our kid’s anxiety?

The Guardian delivered crushing news last week. “ More then 500 children a day or one every three minutes are referred to mental health services for anxiety in England.”

There are many reasons that we could debate as to why this is happening, but I wanted to think instead about why we can’t solve this problem of epidemic scale. In fact, it’s getting worse in our homes and our schools.

Perhaps it is rooted in the idea that we don’t really understand emotions and we don’t really understand anxiety. As you sit here reading this, how would you describe anxiety? Some of us might be able to say that it’s an uncomfortable feeling in our bodies. Which is true. Anxiety is a feeling, and it exists in our bodies. What we might not know is that it kicks off our stress response. Our innate response to danger. Changing chemicals and hormones in our body, preparing us to respond to threat.

Why then, do we look to solve anxiety in our minds? For sure we have anxious thoughts that can accompany the feelings in our body but in our experience most teachers and parents don’t fully understand that to ease anxiety we must think about changing physiology. Decreasing the stress response that is happening in the body. The increase in heart rate, the sweaty palms, the faster shallower breath.

If we look at how we deal with anxiety generally, and this is our finding in schools, we are missing out this crucial part. For sure, we are getting better at identifying emotions but when it comes to processing them, we often skip the body and go straight to the mind. If we do this the body stays in an anxiety state even if the mind cognitively shifts.

In our tools for parents and teachers we deliver science backed understating to help children and adults move difficult emotions in their bodies. This is a different approach and one that works. If you would like to find out more you can contact us below. We can’t wait to hear from you ☺️

The Emotions Lab