It is only natural that parents want to prepare their children for adulthood and want them to be successful in whatever profession they choose – but recognizing the fine line, between the anxiety symptoms children display and the stress caused by the extra-curricular activities many parents are prescribing for them, is almost impossible. In the early years some parents push their children to the limit by over-scheduling extra-curricular activities. Starting in early childhood and continuing on into their teens until they graduate, what these parents may not be realizing is, that in the early years, by not giving children the opportunity to play pretend and enjoy the company of other kids and the time to entertain themselves on their own, this over-emphasis on the future could be causing severe anxiety disorders.
At the very most, once extra-curricular activities involved music or dance lessons or playing sports, etc. – but that was all. The rest of the time children had time to play at home with siblings or with the local kids around the neighbourhood – playing cowboys and Indians, building playhouses, surfing, riding bikes or just kicking a football around.
Parents who allow children to run around in the backyard chasing the family dog, and to roll in the grass letting the dog lick them all over, know how important it is for kids to have these experiences. They know kids need to feel the freedom and wonder of just being the child they are. Unfortunately family picnics, or a day at the beach together, even everyone playing hide-and-seek around the house seem to be activities of the past.
Reported recently in Newsforparents.org: “Self-initiated and unstructured creative play is the single most important activity that young children can engage in to develop on all levels, including neurological and cognitive growth.” And according to webmed.com in a current report: “too much work and too little play can backfire and lead to depression, anxiety, perfectionism and constant stress in children.”
Constantly having to run to and fro from one activity to another, a child’s entire body is placed on alert to meet the stress, but the problem is, the stress invariably continues and the body and mind end up having little time to rest and recover.
Professionals working with children will tell you, if they want to know if a child’s busy schedule is over taxing them, the first question they ask is: ‘How much time do you spend daily with your family?’ Spending time with family doesn’t always have to mean spending long periods together. Simple outings for a pizza can be a treat, or even sitting around at home watching a movie together.
Be Alert To The Anxiety Symptoms Children Display.
You may remember when you were talking with your child a few weeks earlier, and the child told you about something they were really excited about, but listening to them this time, you realize that they’ve lost interest. Being aware of something as simple as this could be an alert to the fact that your child is under stress, and this loss of enthusiasm is the first visible sign of an anxiety disorder developing.
Anxiety symptoms in children aren’t always that easy to detect, and often the parents who subject their children to ‘extra-curricular’ activities -oblivious to the fact that their child would rather be off playing with friends- are positive these activities are for the child’s benefit, and that the child is enjoying every minute of them. So why aren’t more parents aware of the pressures they could be placing on their children? Because, not wanting to disappoint the parents, the kids have trouble sharing their feelings with them.
Help your child regain the freedom to be happy. For information on finding a natural cure that will, within weeks, FREE YOUR CHILD to regain confidence again, visit www.anxietysymptomschildren.com