Feeling anxious in a particularly uncomfortable situation never feels very good. However, with children, such feelings are not only normal, they are also necessary. Experiencing and dealing with anxieties can prepare young people to handle the unsettling experiences and challenging situations of life. Read on to understand the differences between anxieties, fears, and phobias, and how you can help your child deal with them. It usually occurs when there is no immediate threat to a person's safety or well being, but the threat feels real.
Anxiety makes a person want to escape the situation - fast.
Having fears or anxieties about certain things can be helpful too because it makes kids behave in a safe way. For example, a kid with a fear of fire would avoid playing with matches. The nature of anxieties and fears change as children age. Babies experience stranger anxiety, clinging to parents when confronted by people they don't recognize. Children ages 2 through 6 have anxiety about things that are not based in reality such as fears of monsters and ghosts.