Dr Tracey Murray
Our children's mental health matters in so many ways. Not just to aid their quality of life as they grow and develop, but for the early intervention and prevention, which simply means to stop the knock on effect of mental ill health into adulthood. Over the past number of years there has been a marked rise in mental health issues in children, with research showing that anxiety is the most common presenting issue in children and young people (CYP) from age 4-17 years, across the UK. In Northern Ireland, a Youth Wellbeing survey (2020) reported that one in eight young people meet the criteria for an anxiety or mood disorder, that is 25% higher than other UK regions.
There can be lots of reasons why anxiety becomes problematic for children and young people. Some of the causes that can increase anxiety are: difficulties in relationships with family members and/or peers, school stress, separation from parent/caregiver, environments (home and school), social pressures, influence of social media, changes and transitions, child illness or family illness, difficult circumstances out of a CYP control, experienced adversity or trauma, and neurodivergence.
Having worked as an Art Psychotherapist for the past two decades, I have seen how anxiety manifests in CYP in different ways and it has an ability to hop, skip and jump, changing over time. Sometimes anxiety affects the nervous and sensory systems, impacting physically in the body and day to day functioning including feeling unwell, sleeping, eating, toileting and personal care. For example a younger child with a ‘worry tummy’ might complain often of tummy aches, feeling sick or dizzy and this is their nervous system telling them something is wrong. Anxiety can also impact on behaviour including, obsessive need for certain routines, order and control, developing fears and phobia’s, school avoidance, risk taking, compulsivity, agitation, panic, behaviour that is out of character/control, inability to concentrate and withdrawal. Anxiety can cause changes to mood, motivation and this can impact emotionally, socially and relationally, particularly in teenagers.
It is important to highlight that every CYP presenting with anxiety will have unique symptoms and needs. How they are able to overcome and manage their anxiety will therefore also be different. With the easy access nowadays to social media for many, even when devices are monitored well by parents, there is an increase in CYP looking up symptoms and ‘self-diagnosing’. This self-diagnosing culture feeds the anxiety and adds fuel to the fire. My suggestion not only as a therapist, but as a mother who’s been through it, symptoms and feelings need to be validated. Your child or young person needs your time, attention and understanding, not to be dismissed as "attention seeking", or “it’s just their hormones”. Anxiety is real; it is felt physically, emotionally and psychologically and that can be difficult and scary.
Therefore, if you are concerned about your child or young person, you can contact Heart Therapy NI and talk over your concerns. We have a variety of different therapeutic approaches to help CYP navigate the complexities of anxiety, including play therapy, art therapy, dramatherapy, somatic and talking therapies.