In this crazy season, do you ever wonder how to distinguish between healthy childhood stress and unhealthy anxiety?

Both stress and anxiety are our bodies response to a perceived threat. This threat could be as simple as meeting a school deadline, turning in homework on time, arguing with a friend, or when a child is about to take a test.

Stress can help us to get our tasks done because it pushes us towards action. It is normal for a child to feel stressed the night before an exam. The difference is that stress is short-term. This short-term stress can motivate your child to do the studying that they need to get a good grade. With proper coping mechanisms, kids can work through the symptoms that come along with stress. These symptoms include irritability, fatigue, and worry that comes along with stressors.

Anxiety, on the other hand, is not short-term. Anxiety can present itself similar to stress, but is characterized by excessive worries that do not go away, even when the stressor or “threat” has passed. Anxiety can also affect other areas of functioning. For example, anxiety can keep a child from doing something fun, because they have persistent anxiety about school in general. While stress can feel controllable and temporary, anxiety feels “out of control” and lasts longer than wanted.

Coping Mechanisms for both Stress and Anxiety.

Parental attunement to the child’s emotions. Helping your child to name the stress that they are feeling without judgment. Your job is not to help “fix your child’s” stress, but to be there if they need anything, as well as looking for signs of anxiety that goes beyond the stress and making sure they have appropriate help and support.

• Exercise
• Avoiding caffeine
• Sticking to regular sleep schedules
• Journaling
• Box breathing