Health and anxiety have an intimate relationship. They love to hang out together. They love to work together. Anxiety can make you feel sick. Sickness can make you feel anxious. It can be a vicious duo that can wreak havoc in your child’s life.
Health and anxiety have an intimate relationship. They love to hang out together. They love to work together. Anxiety can make you feel sick. Sickness can make you feel anxious. It can be a vicious duo that can wreak havoc in your child’s life.
Living with anxious kids requires a different kind of parenting. Sometimes it can feel exhausting. Sometimes it can feel frustrating. And sometimes it can feel inspiring and hopeful. It can be quite the rollercoaster ride.
Anxiety and OCD can take its toll. It can be exhausting, overwhelming and traumatizing for the whole family. So, when your child starts to make some big improvements, it’s normal to be worried about how long it will last. It’s normal to doubt the progress. You might ask yourself, “Is this for real? Is this the new normal?”
If you really want to learn about OCD, one of the best ways to do it is by listening to the OCD Stories. The OCD Stories is a podcast, created and hosted by Stuart Ralph. He has interviewed hundreds of people with OCD and has brought a face and a narrative to what it is like to have a full life with OCD.
You are not alone. That is the main message from my new segment on the AT Parenting Survival Podcast called, Member Spotlight Segment.
I love the holidays. I mean LOVE them! But my three anxious kids can hit some pretty big bumps during the holiday season. In fact most kids who have anxiety or OCD hit a few bumps during this time of year.
We often think there is nothing we can do if our child doesn’t work on their anxiety or OCD. I often say, we are in the passenger seat and they are in the driver’s seat. But there is one thing, one HUGE thing we can do.
We want to give our kids everything that we never had, but what happens when we are able to do that? How do we foster appreciation and gratitude? How do we help our children develop appreciation for what they have, when they don’t know what it’s like to not have it?
You are not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of parents just like you. They feel despair, they feel overwhelmed, they feel hope.
Does “self care” equal “self-ish” to you? Often there is a negative connotation with the idea of focusing on yourself, especially when you have a child who is in crisis. Sadly, that is when self care is the most needed.
I know there are a bazillion awareness weeks and months. Every cause, issue or disease has a color or a month. But I wanted to talk to you about why OCD Awareness Week is so important and how you can take part with even the smallest of gestures.
One of the biggest struggles parents have is motivating their child to work on OCD. Who can blame them? Working on OCD can be extremely difficult and overwhelming. But, there is a tool in the toolbox that many parents haven’t explored – that’s ACT.
We many think my sweet, anxious child will never do drugs. In fact, how could she? She’s afraid of her own shadow! I am right there with you. But our young, anxious kids often turn into depressed, overwhelmed teens. The last thing we want is for them to self medicate. That’s why talking about drugs when they are young is so important.
It seems like more and more these days we are having to cope with some horrific things. Mass shootings, school shootings, bombings, hate crimes, environmental disasters and devastating weather are things that we and our children have to contend with all too often. How do we talk to kids when something bad happened?
Dealing with extreme picky eating can be a lonely journey. Barely anyone gets it. People will tell you all sorts of things. Some to lift you up and some to tear you down, but neither wind up being helpful.
