On the 14th of June 2019, a training was conducted by Ms.Leizle Beriña, Guidance & Career Counsellor-KS3. The talk was about Managing Anxiety and Mood Difficulties in Young People. Ms. Lei defined what anxiety means and further elaborated as she went along her discussion. She also presented two brain images: having anxiety disorder and not having one. These images clearly showed the big difference of a normal brain against the brain with anxiety disorder.
Furthermore, Ms. Lei also tackled the most common anxiety triggers or causes for kids such as fears of all kinds: animals, insects, bad weather (thunder and lightning), fire, darkness, losing or being separated from a loved one, academic issues such as making a mistake, failing a test, making a teacher upset, social issues such as not being liked, not being included, being picked last, getting sick or dying, being late and being embarrassed or humiliated. Thus, she made mention the number of symptoms that are visible and easy to spot if a child is experiencing anxiety disorder.
In addition to that, Ms. Lei presented the types of anxiety disorders like Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, Selective Mutism, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia) And Specific Phobia.
She also stressed out that the children with ADHD are at higher risk for anxiety disorders than the children who don’t have ADHD. The reason for this is that the children with ADHD struggle to regulate their emotions.
After the thorough discussion about anxiety disorder, Ms. Lei taught various ways to help children cope with anxiety disorders. She shared simple techniques that adults could use in some cases. These ways and techniques are very helpful not only for children but also for adults who are experiencing anxiety disorders. We are fortunate enough to experience first-hand these helpful practices on how to manage anxiety disorders. Truly, the training serves as a good channel to better understand what anxiety disorder is.
