Dealing with anxiety as a family

[Toshie]

I have a 12 year old daughter with anxiety. I also have suffered from anxiety all my life, but learnt to deal with it. I want to know if there are support groups for families dealing with anxiety. She is seeing a psychologist, but nothing seems to work. I have asked for help where ever I can. I welcome any advice.

[Croix]

Dear Toshie~

I think it is a pretty good move to consider support groups, they can be a really great help . Unfortunately due to the anonymous nature of this place we here in the Forum are unable to recommend any particular one. Can I suggest you give our 24/7 Help Line on 1300 22 4636 a ring? They may be able to provide details of support in your own area.

I guess having an anxiety condition yourself is both good and bad when trying to look after your daughter. If you are like me then I tend to blow everything up and see the worst possibilities, even when they are not warranted. On the other hand it does give insight into what your daughter is going through. Are you able to talk with her?

Do you have any ideas as to why her treatment does not appear successful at the moment? There are so many influences on a young person's life such as school, friendships and family life it can be hard to tell.

May I also ask if you yourself have support? Trying to deal with your daughter's condition will not have been easy.

Croix

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Toshie,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for joining us.

I’m so glad that you’re looking for support for your daughter. As a young person with anxiety I think it would have been lovely for my family to try and support me!

Nevertheless -

Support groups

This is a great question! To be honest I’m a little disappointed that I don’t know of any! Having done a bit of a Google though, I can find specific groups but it really does depend on the state you’re in. ARCVic has a list - but of course they are Victoria only, and WayAhead for NSW.

Here are some general links -

http://dnet.org.au/support-groups/

https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/getting-help/clinics-support-groups/other-support-groups

If you let me know what state you’re in (not your town/city) hopefully I can get something a little more specific! It might also be worth trying to search on google specifically for your town. Community Health centres also have support groups but they may not be advertised on the internet.

Support for your daughter

Croix asked in his post why you think treatment might not be successful, and I’m interested to know that too. Do you know what they’ve been working on - or what type of psychologist they are?

Sometimes it can be about waiting (especially if they’re building up a relationship and learning to trust), other times it can be about the approach (finding a more practical based one), other times it can be about just having the right fit.

You may even find that having a joint appointment (with you and your daughter), or an appointment of your own can be helpful. That way you can kind of collaborate on ways you can help or what it is that would be most helpful right now.

She may even find it helpful to attend a support group on her own - that way she can learn about anxiety, practice her skills and get to know others that are in the same boat.

I hope that this gives you a place to start. If there’s any other resources you’d like feel free to sing out - like books etc.

(Also sorry for the long post! Hopefully it’s not too overwhelming 🙂 )
Hope this helps,