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What is anxiety?
Q
How can you tell if someone is anxious?

What do you think anxiety is?

Click for the answer

A

Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterised by emotional, cognitive and behavioural components.

Anxiety creates feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness and dread.

In distress: Niamh

Children showing possible distress need a calm and considered response. Notice how Niamh's teacher and teaching assistant work together in a calm, considered and planned way to support and help Niamh.

Symptoms of anxiety

Think of a time when you were anxious. What were the symptoms of your anxiety? You will have experienced a number of the following symptoms:

- Dry mouth;
- Feeling shaky;
- Sweating;
- A fast heartbeat;
- A tense body;
- Fast breathing;
- Feelings of dizziness; and/or
- Difficulty sleeping and/or relaxing.

Think about how these powerful symptoms might affect a child.

Anxiety in children

Think of a child that you know who has been anxious. Ask yourself the following questions:

- How do they communicate anxiety to you and others?
- What exacerbates their feelings?
- What do you think you can do to support them?
- To what extent can you work effectively with parents and carers to reduce and alleviate some or all of these symptoms?
- Do you think that the current systems in your school identifies anxiety in children effectively?
- Ask your colleagues or other parents and find out if there is any consensus around this topic.

It is sometimes difficult to put yourself in the shoes of a child with complex needs. This resource will enable you to do just that.

### Further reading

- Video download: mile6.mp4 (MP4 , 13.9MB)

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