When to seek help for a 7 year old?

[EAOA79]

Hi, I feel completely out of my depth when helping our child who is 7 and appears to be suffering from Anxiety and self doubt. At what point does it go from normal childhood behaviour and when is it time to seek help? Our child often misses out of having fun because they see the negative in everything and is fearful of making mistakes. At school our child is bright, confident and a wonderful friend to everyone however at home they become withdrawn, doubtful of themselves and afraid. I have put off getting help for so long because I felt it was a reflection of our parenting skills. Any other parents have experience with this?

[Sophie_M]

Hi EAOA79, welcome to the forums.
We have a section on our Healthy Families website about anxiety in children between the ages of 6-12:

https://healthyfamilies.beyondblue.org.au/age-6-12/mental-health-conditions-in-children/anxiety

While you're waiting for a response from our community, please have a read through, hopefully it will answer some of your questions.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi EOA79,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for your post.

I'm not a parent but hopefully I might be able to help - or at least give you a place to start until some other parents chime in!

A big part of when to 'worry' about anxious behaviour is when the anxiety starts impacting the other parts of your child's life. The link that Sophie M provided talks more about when anxiety is normal and when it might be worth getting some help.

Here's another resource that might be helpful - https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/health-daily-care/mental-health/generalised-anxiety

Please know that lots of children experience anxiety and it's absolutely not a reflection on you or your parenting skills. The rates of anxiety in children are so high - it's just that it's not talked about so naturally there's a big of stigma in getting some help. Often though, the psychologists will give you resources and techniques to help your child - that might be things like art techniques, exposure therapy (working up to doing the things your child is withdrawing from), cognitive techniques (like challenging some of their worries) or breathing techniques. So in a sense, you can both learn and work together.

Hope this is helpful,

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi,

One more thing!

Just thought I'd also share this resource with you -

https://brave4you.psy.uq.edu.au/

It's an online resource from the UniQLD (and support of BeyondBlue) to help parents of young children with anxiety. It's also completely free.

[baet123]

Hey EAOA79,

Welcome to BB and thanks for posting. It is great to have you here!

Growing up as a child in today's society is super tough and its a testament to the loving and caring parent which you seem to be as it is so encouraging that you are aware of your child's behaviours and you are actively seeking advice/information on his symptoms.

Your concerns are absolutely genuine and should be taken seriously. In my opinion, I believe its never to early and you can never be to careful with a person's mental health particularly with a child's emotional well-being. I believe it is worth taking your child to your GP and discussing what options are available moving forward. I would even ask for a referral to a pediatrician and/or a psychiatrist who specialises in child behaviour/conditions.

I don't believe it is any reflection on your parenting so please don't be too hard on yourself.

Please also visit Children of Parents with a Mental Ilness (COPMI) and Raising Children Network for more information and resources.

Hope this helped.

Nick.