Stress.
A word we are all too familiar with. Kids also experience stress, and since they are relatively new to this world, the stress they experience can easily turn into, and often stems from, the conic conditions of anxiety, worry and panic attacks. Some children’s brains are naturally wired to be more prone to these conditions, and learning to recognize when your child is battling with the symptoms of worry is key to teaching your child how to thrive.
Worry affects not just the quality of the life you live, but also has adverse effects on one’s health and body.
Some detrimental health effects of worry include:
- Depression (one in five children will suffer from severe depression before the age of 18 which has contributed to sky rocketing suicide stats amongst teens.)
- Headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, insomnia, irritability and inability to concentrate, sweating and nervous energy – just to name a few.
- The emotional problems of distress (extreme stress) show up as anxiety, chronic worry and panic attacks.
- Chronic anxiety and outpouring of stress hormones can have serious physical consequences, including: suppression of the immune system, digestive disorders, muscle tension, short-term memory loss, premature coronary artery disease and eventual heart attack.
Many chronic worriers speak of feeling a sense of impending doom or unrealistic fears that only increase their worries. Ultra-sensitive to their environment and to criticism from others, excessive worriers may see anything, and anyone, as a potential threat.
Too many parents mistake anxiety in a child as misbehavior. Today’s science explains that we can teach our kids to overcome anxiety and live productive, healthy lives.
Traditional therapy is not always the answer. No one wants to feel ‘like something is wrong with them.’ In order to combat this feeling, but still deliver a therapy-based program that teaches children how to overcome their feelings of chronic worry, we’ve created a fully animated course and now we’re turning these interactive animations into a first-of-its-kind Kindle book. Our goal is to help you make story time fun and productive!
Over the next few weeks we are systematically releasing information that can change, even save, your child’s life if they suffer (or you expect they suffer) from worry, anxiety and panic attacks.
Different parts of the brain do different things–including worry! To really understand what’s going on inside your brain, we need Neutrino’s help. (We met her last week.) She has some special powers and can actually take us into the brain to better understand why sometimes our worry alarm doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to.
Meet Widdle the Worrier, Widdle lives in the Old Brain
Hi youthlings! My name is Widdle and I have lots of different responsibilities. Yup. Did you know that I’m responsible for your emotions – like when you feel sad, or happy, anger or joy – these feelings come from my department here in the old brain.
Wait, I’m not done! Youthlings, I’m also responsible for keeping you safe from PRESENT danger. In fact, your survival is my most important job! I’m always scanning your surroundings for danger, and when I see something, I set off the worry alarm! I make you worry.
Have you ever noticed that when you get worried, you feel lots of energy going through your body? Your heart beats faster, muscles tighten up, pupils get bigger and much more. I’m only doing this to protect you!
All those changes help youthlings fight harder, run faster, and see better. I do this sooo fast, that you don’t even really have time to think about it. In as little as 1/20th of a second that it takes your heart to beat twice, my alarm sets you in motion!
If you remember anything about Widdle, remember this: Widdle the Worrier is trying to protect you. Widdle the Worrier is responsible for your defense system.
It’s time to take a trip into the new brain:
Meet Til the Thinker, Til lives in the New Brain
So, Til, tell the youthlings what you do here in the new brain.
Well, I do a lot of rad things here. Did you know that I help you use words? Yup, here in the newer brain, we are responsible for language.
I also like to take time to really “figure things out.” See Widdle does things quick, quick, quick. When something is wrong, Widdle sets off a worry alarm and BOOM – you’re in action. But in the new brain, we like to take things a little bit slower. Down here, we take a few moments to make sure there is really something to worry about and then if there is, we look at different solutions to help make the problem better. In other words, we THINK things through, and then we use all the information to come up with the best solutions and answers.
Here in the new brain we help youthlings think about the future. See youthlings, sometimes you might think about what’s going to happen next week in school, with friends, with family, when you grow up, just to name a few examples. Thinking about the future is all controlled by my department in the new brain! Even cooler… in the new brain, we are even responsible for the imagination! We like to image what outer space looks like, what it would be like to fly, or maybe we’ll be a firefighter one day – we think about all of these things. We’re very curious and creative down here!
Til the Thinker helps you think through problems logically. Now, youthlings, let’s get to the good stuff. It’s time to understand how Til and Widdle work together and what causes worry to get out of control.
The book contains interactive GoPractice quizzes you can do with your kids, interactive animations and video links.