How to Avoid Passing on Your Anxiety to Your Child

It is said that an apple never falls far off from the tree. This has been proven wrong on many occasions. Having a murderer for a father does not condemn you to become a murderer. Having a depressed parent doesn’t necessarily mean that depression will stalk you all your life, lurking around the corner and waiting to strike as soon as you let your guard down. You are not doomed to a life of misery just because your parents were miserable. Still, there are many occasions on which the apple does fall close to the tree. One such occasion is related to anxiety. Anxiety is a crazy thing. It follows entire generations and doesn’t easily let up. In other words, if you struggle with anxiety, your child is likely to struggle with anxiety too, and there is evidence to back that up. But here’s the crazier thing: anxiety is rarely genetic in nature. Rarely do people “inherit” anxiety. Your anxiety — and your child’s anxiety — rarely has anything to do with the faults in your genes. Rather, it is often a learned trait. What this means is that an anxious parent does certain things, behaves in a certain way and reacts to situations in a certain manner, sparking his or her kid’s anxiety. So, the one positive thing about the passing of anxiety across generations is that if it is a learned trait, then it can be unlearned. Researchers have put much effort into unearthing how to best respond to your anxiety to avoid passing it onto your child. Here are five science-back...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Anxiety and Panic Brain and Behavior Children and Teens Habits Parenting Avoidance childhood anxious Modeling Source Type: blogs