You’re a parent and you feel anxious?
Anxiety is a normal response to many situations. Over thousands of years it has given us as human beings an edge in surviving. It can be helpful, especially if we are an actor or a sports person and we have to perform. Anxiety gets us ready to act.
However, when our anxiety level is too high then it can have a negative impact on our lives.
If you’ve done our pathway ‘Understanding your child: from toddler to teenager’ you’ll know that it’s important to have a space in your head for your children, which can be hard if your head is full of worries and anxiety.
Often there are unprocessed feelings causing anxiety. Sometimes it’s possible to think through these on our own, but often it helps to talk to someone who is good at listening to process them.
There are lots of reasons why you might feel anxious as a parent. Some might have nothing to do with being a parent, but others might be because being a parent is life changing. There are suddenly a lot more responsibilities, big changes in your lifestyle, changes in your relationship, uncertainty about what to do in the many different situations you are now faced with. It’s hard sometimes to feel confident about muddling through the challenges of every day.
There are lots of ways to downregulate, or calm yourself down, from taking a few deep breaths to yoga to walking. You’ll have ways to slow yourself down.
Other helpful tools
- Most of the population have experienced trauma, especially from loved ones dying or falling ill. Unresolved trauma can cause anxiety. If you’d like to think about this some more then you could try the Togetherness pathway ‘Understanding your own trauma’.
- If the changes in your relationship are causing anxiety, you could try the Togetherness pathway ‘Understanding your relationships’.
- The website from MIND may be helpful.
- Your GP may be able to signpost you to further help if you feel that you need it.
Dr Hazel Douglas MBE
Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Child Psychotherapist, Togetherness Director