Living with Anxiety

The Nugget has always been a high-needs, orchid child.  I choose to see this as a strength for him and it's been very eye-opening to learn to appreciate the world the way he sees it.  Lately, we've put another piece of the puzzle together for him - an assessment that definitively shot down inattentive type ADHD and popped up the red flag for mild anxiety.  I have my own anxiety experience, so the Nugget and I are learning together.

Here's an article about childhood anxiety and what it looks like.

The flip-side of anxiety and how it comes with "powers"!  Many of these are so true of the Nugget.

We got this workbook for him to jump start his understanding of what's happening when his anxiety kicks in.  It normalizes the experience, lets him know he's not alone, and gives him ideas of what he can do to help the big feelings pass.

We put together a stress kit for him to use at school, at the teacher's discretion.  It contains:

-A stress ball

-Silly Putty

-Essential oil salve.  I've been using this daily too, and find it really calming.

-Ring of cards with grounding ideas

I joined an anxiety support group to get more ideas, and they've been really helpful so far.  If you have experience with anxiety and have any tips to share, I'd love to hear them!