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Dealing With Fear and Anxiety in Children During COVID-19 Times – Part 1
The pandemic we are witnessing today is an event that mankind has never seen before. The very nature of this virus has brought with it panic, distress and uncertainties. Our kids are not untouched by these adversities. They get information through various mediums like television, newspaper and through conversations among relatives. One of the best modes for us to understand how our children are feeling, understanding and perceiving this is through their behaviour. They may or may not feel the stress, anxiety or fear that this pandemic has brought upon us. Fear is also an emotion just like happiness, sadness or anger. It’s okay for the child to feel fear, or not be fearful at all. But before we get to the child’s feelings, let us cast a brief look upon us. How do we perceive it when we get to know about anyone suffering from COVID? Am I panicking or do I deny my feelings of fear and tell myself that I am brave, I cannot be scared? Can I talk about my true feelings? Can I be genuine with myself? We need to ponder about what we perceive when we hear the term COVID. When we deny our feelings, we try to project ourselves differently which we are not. We do this whole deceiving thing to ourselves and then we share this with our children. The problem happens when we are trying to communicate things that we are not experiencing and in turn are twisting ourselves. This way, we are losing the trust of our child which establishes a connection with them. It’s very important for us as parents to build that connection with our children. What we usually do is try to fix how we feel. But there is no need to do this. Just try to be with this experience. And yes, we have a choice whether to communicate our feelings to our child or not. If you are able to receive your child with all of your genuineness, it will do wonders to them.
