The appearance of fear can be associated with the caution reflex. It's like a defensive reaction of the body. As a rule, the restless behavior of the child does not last long. But there are times when the fear is lingering. It all depends on the environment in which the child grows up. If parents conduct a tough upbringing, raise their voice at the baby, beat him, then this can cause fear, provoking a persistent neurotic disorder.
What is a child's fear? How to treat it? This will be discussed in this article.
Main signs of fear
Show signs of fear in a child:
- bad dream;
- frequent fading;
- shudder;
- pupil dilation;
- rapid breathing and heart rate;
- drawing the head into the shoulders;
- hyperexcitability;
- deterioration of sleep;
- nightmares;
- frequent crying in sleep;
- fear of loneliness, darkness or any object;
- hysterical manifestations;
- poor appetite;
- trembling limbs.
The child is afraid of something, often asks to be held, behaves capriciously, restlessly. Babymay demand that his parents go to bed with him and turn on the light in the room. He will wake up frequently during the night.
Main causes of a child's neurotic disorder
As a rule, it is not difficult to determine the cause of such a phenomenon in an adult child. But how to explain the fear in a baby?
Provoke fear in a child can:
- loud screams or harsh sounds;
- large scary animals;
- natural phenomena such as lightning or thunder;
- stress;
- appearance of a stranger;
- overly strict upbringing;
- various infectious diseases;
- somatic diseases.
A child at any age is very important to stay in a state of security. Even kindergarten children are encouraged to accustom gradually. In the early days, mom should be there. So the baby will understand that there is no reason to worry.
Fear in preschool children is often associated with a tense conflict situation in the family. The constant presence of a mother in a bad mood can adversely affect the child's condition.
The child is afraid of punishment, shouting, fear of loneliness, dark rooms and fairy-tale characters - all this is the result of improper upbringing and indifference of parents to the emotional sphere of the child.
Exactly the same result, paradoxical as it may sound, can be caused by excessive guardianship of parents who narrow the social circle of their child, do not allow the child to developqualities like independence and activity.
The consequences of fear
The child grows up, his life experience becomes richer, and fears can go away on their own. But it happens that they remain for a long time and over time will become even brighter.
The strength of fright depends on the suddenness of the frightening phenomenon, negative experiences in the past, repetitive trauma. Some react to fright with hysteria, some start having panic attacks. If the child has already begun to talk, then the child may begin to stutter, or the child may stop talking altogether. Sometimes the fear is not forgotten for too long, then the child may withdraw into himself, and this will cause a deterioration in learning ability.
Fright received during the day gives rise to nightmares, causing groundless fears and aggressive behavior. So fear and aggressiveness can become character traits.
Fear in a child, the signs of which are numerous, is not distinguished by doctors as a separate disease. The danger lies in the fact that strong fear can become a trigger for the development of a phobia - a persistent feeling of fear of any object or phenomenon.
Persistent fears can provoke a disease of the cardiovascular system. Due to severe mental trauma, urinary incontinence, stuttering and night walking can occur. Therefore, children with fright should be shown to a neurologist, speech therapist, and a heart cardiogram should be done.
Basic treatments for the disease
How to overcome fear in a child? How to treat pathology? Someone trustrecipes of traditional medicine, someone prefers to turn to a pediatric neurologist. In any case, the child should be close to the mother, who can calm him down.
How to cure fear at home? A calm atmosphere should reign in the family, the baby should sing lullabies, take him in his arms more often, stroke his back, arms and legs. This will help the child relax and stop whining. All of these methods are effective for very young children.
How to relieve a teenager's fear? The exact cause of such a reaction should be established. After that, you can choose the appropriate treatment method. In case of fear of a certain thing or person, the child should be brought closer to them. Everything has to be done slowly here. It must be ensured that this object does not pose any danger. After that, the feeling of fear will leave the teenager.
What to do if a child is afraid of visiting a doctor's office? It is necessary to convince the child that it is much better to treat the disease in the early stages than to start it and suffer for a long time. At the same time, the conversation with the teenager should be friendly and calm.
Fear often accompanies the beginning of school attendance. In particular, such a phenomenon is observed in cases where parents set tasks that are impossible for the child, orientate them towards the highest result, and constantly strive for high goals.
The set of fears can only be removed by a benevolent atmosphere created by teachers. In this case, an important role is given to the cooperation of teachers.and parents, who together can outline common approaches to removing the level of anxiety in a child, help him realize his social status.
Use of folk remedies
How to eliminate fear in a child? No doctor can tell you exactly how to treat this phenomenon, since there are no specific methods of treatment. Only with a strong manifestation of fright, psychotherapists prescribe medications. And parents are tormented by the question of how to cure a child from fright and whether something can be done at home.
Traditional medicine offers a large number of ways to relieve fear:
- Common way. Drink a glass of sugar-sweetened water immediately after a fright.
- Prayers are used. Prayer from fright "Our Father" in conjunction with holy water is a very effective force. The child should drink water three times a day, three sips. Wash your face with this water in the morning and evening while reciting a prayer. Also an effective prayer from fear, “Our Lady of the Virgin, rejoice.”
- The strongest folk method is an apple with incense. For this purpose, a hole is made in the apple, into which 2-3 g of incense is placed. After that, the apple is baked in the oven for half an hour. The first half of the apple is eaten in the morning, and the second in the evening.
- Coffee with mint. To prepare a decoction, ground coffee is poured into a saucepan. Fresh mint is also added there. The mixture is poured with water and placed in a water bath. After boiling, you need to let the child breathe in the steam. Such inhalation will help relieve nervous tension. Suitable for both adults and children.
- Milk with honey and lemon balm. Boil fresh milk, add lemon balm to it. Let it boil in this state for a little more. After that, cool the milk and add a spoonful of May honey to it. Give your child half a glass to drink five times a day.
- Pouring cold water. The procedure is carried out three times a day. The water temperature should be 10 degrees. The first days are poured over the legs to the knees, after which you can pour over the whole body. The duration of treatment is 10 days.
Using herbs
Is it possible to overcome fear in a child with herbs? How to treat, prompt reference books of traditional medicine. The recipes use herbs with a calming effect. Baths or decoctions for drinking are made on their basis.
- To prepare the collection, 50 g of angelica root, 100 g of chamomile, 50 g of hops, 100 g of nettle leaves, 50 St. John's wort, 50 g of heather, 50 g of lemon balm are taken. Herbs are mixed. A teaspoon of the mixture is brewed with a glass of boiling water. Infusion drink half a cup in the morning and evening.
- Effective collection that helps to save the child from fear and from the neurotic disorder of adults. Take 4 parts of heather, 3 parts of cudweed, 3 parts of motherwort and 1 part of valerian. The mixture is poured with two liters of boiling water and infused for two hours. Drink five sips every hour throughout the day.
- One teaspoon of kupena roots is taken. It is poured with one glass of water and boiled for 10 minutes. Drink a quarter cup before meals.
- An excellent method istaking a bath with pine needles or chamomile, which have a calming effect.
Preventive measures
To prevent the risk of fear, you should try to talk more with the child about his fears, explain to him that there are no reasons for fear. It is also useful to temper the child, let him walk barefoot on stones and grass. Clay is an excellent means of strengthening the nerves. It can be replaced with ordinary plasticine.
Treat your child with love, show care, affection and patience towards him. Then he will have no fears.
Stuttering from fright
What can cause stuttering in children? Causes and treatment will be described below.
It is clear that any child can be afraid of something. Why do some kids stutter and some don't? Can fear cause such a violation in an adult? Is it worth waiting for the disease to go away on its own without treatment?
Psychophysiological basis
Many speech therapists note that such a problem as stuttering occurs in people with a certain type of nervous system.
Factors that predispose to stuttering include:
- weakness of higher nervous activity, which is accompanied by increased anxiety, irritability, tearfulness and vulnerability;
- genetic background;
- frequent infectious diseases;
- asthenic condition;
- organic disorder of the central nervous system;
- psychological pressure (the child is afraid of punishment, condemnation).
Stuttering offA stressful situation can also occur in an adult and a teenager, and the child’s underdeveloped speech apparatus is sensitive to various negative factors.
The above reasons do not at all indicate that a child under the influence of fright will immediately become a stutterer, but the likelihood of such a defect in childhood is high.
How to deal with such a phenomenon as stuttering in children? Only a doctor will explain the causes and treatment. Parents should seek professional help. Many believe that such a speech defect will sooner or later go away on its own without the intervention of a professional. This view of the existing problem is fundamentally wrong.
Undoubtedly, there are cases when stuttering from fright goes away on its own, but this happens extremely rarely. Moreover, in the future, any stress or new fear can cause even greater speech problems, getting rid of which will become problematic. Therefore, it is advised to consult a specialist.
General recommendations
General recommendations for curing stuttering include:
- compliance with the daily routine;
- creating a favorable psychological atmosphere in the family;
- Strengthening the overall he alth of the baby.
Classes with a speech therapist
Classes provide an opportunity to release the speech of a stuttering child from tension, eliminate pronunciation errors and instill clarity, rhythm and smoothness of articulation.
First, the child performs tasks together withby a specialist, then proceeds to independent exercises in oral storytelling. Consolidation of acquired skills occurs in daily communication with other people. The degree of difficulty of the exercises is selected in accordance with the development of the child's speech.
Breathing exercises
Such activities help to make the voice natural and free. They have a beneficial effect on the respiratory system as a whole. Exercise helps to train the diaphragm, forcing it to participate in the process of voice formation, teaches you to breathe deeply, which contributes to the mobility of the vocal cords. This method of treatment is complemented by relaxing techniques.
Massage
As a rule, acupressure is used. The course of treatment through this method is selected according to the complexity of the particular case. During the procedures, the massage therapist affects certain points of the body. The first results of treatment can be seen after the first session. Fine massage promotes the regulation of the nervous system.
Use of computer programs
Using this method has a high degree of efficiency. The method contributes to the synchronization of the auditory and speech center of the child. The kid pronounces the words into the microphone, and the program automatically delays the speech for a fraction of a second. The child listens to his pronunciation and tries to adapt to it.
Baby's speech becomes smooth. With the help of the program, specific situations that arise when communicating with other people are played. For example, emotions such as anger, surprise, discontent are included. Childmust answer into the microphone. Then the program itself evaluates his answer and advises what should be improved.
Medication use
This method is auxiliary, included in the complex of the general course. The child may be prescribed drugs against seizures, tranquilizers. drugs are also prescribed to help neutralize blocking substances that interfere with the proper functioning of the nervous system. Various nootropics are prescribed.
If necessary, drug treatment is supplemented by taking sedative infusions. For example, a decoction of motherwort is used.
