Q: My five year old daughter is above average academically and socially, but there are times when she is extremely emotional. She seems to be overcome with anxiety about the smallest things sometimes. It is serious enough that I at least wanted to ask someone about it.
A: It's difficult to know why a child acts this way. It may be because of her advanced capabilities that she is experiencing deep emotions and just doesn't know how to handle them. Her anxiety may simply be a part of her personality or it may be the result of messages that she receives from you and her mother. She may want to please you guys so much that anxiety occurs when she thinks she's not. She believes things should be perfect (homework, bed making, herself etc) and when things are less than this, she can't handle it. All of these are just guesses. The why though isn't often as important as what needs to be done about it.
The best thing to do is help her process anxiety producing events so she can learn what she needs to worry about and what she doesn't. When she's overreacting about something, help her see why she doesn't have to. You are helping her learn to react differently and gain a balanced view of life events. This will take some time as you reshape her cognition but it's what needs to happen if she's to change.
I hope this helps. These are just guesses from me. The best thing for you to do is read about it from people who have studied this group of children. I recommend going to Amazon, search for "anxious child" and purchase the one that is reviewed the best.
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