Stress affects millions of people around the world, causing everything from excess sweating to heart palpitations. Over time, exposure to stress can tax the body so much that it can even be fatal–in fact, it’s known as the silent killer. If you need ways to relax, these strategies can help. Call a buddy. Much of…
From road rage to Black Friday brawls, even adults occasionally struggle with regulating their emotions. After all, the world can be a stressful, confusing and overwhelming place. Now imagine being a toddler faced with the same challenges, except your brain lacks the ability to help you calm these unpleasant feelings. As humans transition from infancy…
Fear is an emotional state triggered by real, objective danger. When there is an actual threat staring you in the face, fear activates the release of chemicals into your body to help you survive. This is otherwise known as the famous fight, flight or freeze response. As humans have evolved, we’ve fine-tuned our capacity to…
“I’ll clean my room tomorrow!” “It’s not due until next week!” “I’ll do my chores later!” They insist. They persuade. They don’t act. Watching your kids go through the self-destructive process of procrastination can be extremely painful. Your options are to either do nothing, watching the whole, all-to-familiar scenario unfold, help out, by doing some or all of the…
Have you ever wondered why one kid may be more resilient than another? Let’s say Lisa and Jenny are students in the same eighth grade math class. They both struggle during the quarter and, in the end, they both receive low final grades. Upon hearing the news, Lisa and Jenny share myriad negative emotions. However,…
I wanted to sleep with a bat under my pillow. It was plastic; nonetheless, it was a weapon. I was five years old, and I firmly believed that each night when I went to sleep, a robber would break into the house. I needed something to defend myself (and maybe my family), and my brother’s…
Growing up, I was a bit of a firecracker. I reacted quickly to situations and never hesitated to express my “passionate” opinions. This often led to hurt feelings. I remember once, after a heated discussion with my brother, he asked my parents to put a coffee filter over my mouth to “keep the yucky stuff inside.” My…
You’re so smart!” “You’re so creative!” “You’re so . . . [insert convenient, but possibly damaging description here]” The other day during a frantic scramble to get my one-year-old to music class, I watched her perform her latest trick—slipping into her little gym shoes and tightening the Velcro straps all by herself. She then stared…
At some point, children with anxiety want to understand why they are suffering from persistent worry. Try walking your child through this infographic. Kids love to learn that worry actually has a very specific purpose: protection. Sometimes this protection mechanism can go a little haywire, but there are ways to come back from the frenetic…
“What if I don’t get asked to the dance?” “What if you run out of gas and can’t pick me up from school?”“What if we get robbed?” “What if… [insert your child’s anxious thought here]?” If your child’s anxious, it’s likely they do something I like to call what-iffing. This is the tendency to ponder…