Anxiety disorders: What can parents do?

Mrs Zanotta, how do you explain the increasing number of adolescents who suffer from anxiety disorders and therefore need therapeutic support?

Anxiety disorders and depression have steadily increased over the last few decades. There are many triggers for anxiety today: From the fact that we can see what is happening in the furthest corner of the earth via the media, to the climate crisis or the increasing lack of relationships in our society.

Children and young people are also burdened by very high performance expectations. In addition, during the pandemic they were unable to maintain sufficient social contact with friends , which is essential for their development of autonomy. Since then, we have seen an explosion in anxiety disorders and depression. Anxiety is also unconsciously reinforced by well-meaning parents who overprotect their anxious child and thus weaken their resilience.

Which parental behaviour is particularly problematic?

Studies on parents of very anxious children have shown - in addition to overprotection - different factors: On the one hand, there are the helicopter parents who are over-involved and those who demand too much of the child and are over-critical.

The most important thing is the connection to people and nature as well as the experience of self-efficacy and trust.

However, mothers and fathers who are perceived as weak and suffering because of their anxiety or illness also increase their children's anxiety. They then quickly judge situations as threatening and their own competence as low. They fall into black-and-white thinking and tend to have negative expectations. Some react with somatic complaints such as headaches and stomach aches. All of this leads to avoidance behaviour: The affected children withdraw into their comfort zone and are therefore unable to have experiences that are important for their development.

What can parents do - and how can therapy help?

Parents should listen carefully to their child and empower them by signalling to them: I trust you that you can overcome the fear on your own! In therapy, it is very important to address the anxiety not only cognitively, but on all levels: Physically - i.e. recognising the reactions of the nervous system and changing them; emotionally, bringing about confrontation with difficult situations on an imaginary level or working with the personality parts that are responsible for the excessive anxiety. On a cognitive level, those affected can learn to perceive not only worries and fear, but also strength and joy! Most importantly, however, is the connection to people, nature and animals as well as the experience of self-efficacy and trust!