Escalations in Anxiety

Let’s take some time to look at four common ways in which anxiety can temporarily skyrocket in kids.

Temporary Escalation in Anxiety #1:

Some kids work to manage their anxiety through mission plans, make huge gains in the first few weeks, and the anxiety never escalates again for that situation. However, as they get older and are faced with new situations, their anxiety may escalate, and they will be faced with that all too familiar temptation to avoid the tasks that make them anxious. This is an opportunity for engaging in a new mission plan or generalizing skills already learned to this situation. For example, they may realize that it helps them feel ready if they practice before a presentation and remember that taking 5 deep breaths helps them feel more calm right before.

Bringing Sally’s Anxiety Back Down to Earth:

During the program, Sally worked on managing her anxiety with social gatherings. After completing the program, her anxiety no longer escalates when she must be around other kids at school. However, a year later she is asked to do a presentation on Saturn in front of a large group of classmates, and she becomes very anxious and is tempted to lie to get out of having to give the presentation. Instead of lying to avoid giving the presentation, she takes this as an opportunity to develop a new mission plan for public speaking to manage her fear.

Temporary Escalation in Anxiety #2:

Sometimes anxiety can escalate if we stop practicing skills that help manage fears and worries. For example, maybe Neil started the program during the summer when school was out, and there was more time to work on Mission Plans. However, when school starts up again, things get busy, and weeks go by without practicing the skills. In this case, Neil may notice that his anxiety has escalated again. Neil and his caregiver can take this as an opportunity to go back to the basics of the program and practice the techniques that were working the first time. For example, if the mission plan was working to lower anxiety, then they could try out this mission plan again. But if their schedule is still busy, it would be important to plan out days and times that work best to work on mission plans.

Bringing Neil’s Anxiety Back Down to Earth:

Neil started a mission plan for his fear of the dark during the summer and before space training started. Neil got through the first few phases in the mission plan, and was even starting to sleep alone in his room a few nights a week. However, when space training started, his caregiver got really busy between picking him up from space training, helping with space training homework, and managing family chores around the house. Since things got so busy, Neil and his caregiver stopped the mission plan. Over the next few weeks, Neil’s fear of the dark escalated and he was back to sleeping in his caregiver’s bedroom every night. After several weeks of this, Neil and his caregiver decided to go back to the basics. They pulled out the old mission plan they had created and started from the beginning. Neil and his caregiver also decided to work on the mission plan at 8:30pm every night, which was right around his bedtime. Setting a specific time every night created consistency and made it easier to stick to the mission plan.

Temporary Escalation in Anxiety #3:

Sometimes, anxiety may escalate because of a major life stressor, like a car accident or natural disaster. Life stressors can happen unexpectedly and usually there is little that we can do to prepare for them. When stressful events happen, it is important to not jump into making mission plans right way. Give your child time to adjust to their new situation and make sure they feel supported.

Bringing Sally’s Anxiety Back Down to Earth:

When Sally was in the car with her mom on her way to school, another car ran a red light and hit their family car. When Sally returned home, her mom decided that Sally needed some time to process what happened. Sally and her caregiver both felt very nervous when thinking about driving over the next few days, but they did not jump into mission plan practice right away, because they remembered that it is normal to feel anxious after something really scary happens. After a week or two, however, Sally’s caregiver was ready to drive longer distances, but Sally still refused to get into the car. So, her mom reminded her of the deep breathing skills Sally was already using every day. Sally was able to use this skill to help her process what had occurred before creating a mission plan to get over her fear of getting back into a car.

Take Home:

Bringing your child’s anxiety back down to Earth means having your child practice tolerating anxiety in any situations that cause their anxiety to escalate. The initial reaction to a rise in anxiety may be to avoid the thing or situation that causes anxiety. However, avoidance only temporarily lowers your child’s anxiety. It is more helpful to have your child practice approaching those situations that cause escalations in anxiety. Over time, and with practice, your child will be able to bring their anxiety down to Earth and manage their fears and worries better. The habits that you and your child have developed throughout LUNA will continue to help you. Whenever anxiety starts to get in the way again, remember to keep using them.