{"id":668,"date":"2020-08-04T15:43:06","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T15:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/?page_id=668"},"modified":"2026-02-10T14:52:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:52:31","slug":"understanding-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/introduction\/anxiety-toolkit\/understanding-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong>Understanding Anxiety<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>Occasional anxiety is an expected part of life for everyone. Experiencing anxiety at higher levels is also to be expected for children, young people and adults at different times in their development and as a result of different experiences or circumstances in their life. Most anxieties are temporary and are to be expected and understandable, particularly if\/when significant life changes have been experienced. Experiencing anxiety and being able to overcome it is an important part of child development.<\/p>\n<p>This video (NSPCC, 2017) explains how a child&#8217;s brain develops through early experiences, including the critical role of healthy relationships and how experiencing positive and tolerable stress is essential for development (video is 4.05mins).<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ttfmake-embed-wrapper aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 960px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How a child&#039;s brain develops through early experiences\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hMyDFYSkZSU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>This diagram shows the difference between types of stress.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-681 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2020\/08\/04161339\/stressor-continuum.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"515\" height=\"281\" \/><\/h4>\n<p><strong>Video explaining stress to young people (Mental Health Literacy, 2020) (5.18mins)<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"ttfmake-embed-wrapper aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 960px;\">\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k8FiAxAqqYE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Video explaining anxiety to young people (Anna Freud, 2023) (4.32 mins)<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ttfmake-embed-wrapper aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 960px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Let\u2019s talk about anxiety animation\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dknTQktH5Z0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>The role of adults<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Children\u2019s responses will be significantly influenced by adults around them. Children may need higher levels of reassurance, both through verbal and non-verbal communications. Children are highly attuned to the emotions and behaviours of adults so if adults are anxious or act in ways that are highly different and unpredictable for the children\/young people, this is likely to elevate rather than reduce any anxieties children experience. <strong>Routines<\/strong> and <strong>predictability<\/strong> are protective for those experiencing anxiety.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-679 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2020\/08\/04160819\/solid-versus-shaky-foundations.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"294\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Typical anxieties for children &amp; young people by age group<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A table with typical anxieties that often arise for children and young people by age group is below. Children manifest many fears and anxieties as part of typical development. Although these anxieties might be acutely distressing, they occur in most children and are typically transient. The table is given as a guide. Some children and young people may not experience these anxieties and\/or may experience them at a different age\/stage of development. Considering this information alongside other <strong>assessment information<\/strong> would form part of your holistic <strong>assessment<\/strong> to determine the nature of ongoing <strong>assessment<\/strong> and intervention required.<\/p>\n<p>Typical anxieties per age group. Adapted from Carr, A. (2015). <em>The Handbook of Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology: A Contextual Approach. 3<sup>rd<\/sup> Ed. Routledge. P402<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-833 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2020\/10\/16121459\/anxieties-per-age.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"587\" height=\"625\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>What might we notice?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When the level of stress or anxiety is too high for the child\/young person to cope with, then we can sometimes see <strong>fight, flight, freeze, submit responses<\/strong>. These behaviours are the body&#8217;s natural response to danger, a type of stress response that helps you react to perceived threats in your environment, behaviours designed to keep us safe in situations that seem too risky for us.<\/p>\n<p>Townsend, H. (2017) has provided a booklet called<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2021\/05\/06160140\/Survival-In-School-PDF.pdf\"> &#8216;What Survival looks like in School&#8217;<\/a> that explains the freeze, flight, fight, submit responses and what this experience is like for the child\/young person.<\/p>\n<p>Stress and anxiety causes changes in body, changes in thinking, changes in behaviours.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Changes in body<\/strong> might include feeling tense, sweating, breathing faster, senses being more sensitive, heart beating faster. For every person and in different situations, the body sensations of stress and anxiety will differ. It is important to help a person be &#8216;in tune&#8217; with these body changes to <strong>understand<\/strong> and then intervene effectively.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Changes in thinking\u00a0<\/strong>might include, being so pre-occupied with the problem or source of the anxiety that it distracts from other thinking and activity, become very rigid in thinking about the source of the anxiety or more generally, being unable to generate and consider solutions to the anxiety. For every person and in different situations, the thinking impacts of stress and anxiety will differ. It is important to help a person be &#8216;in tune&#8217; with these thinking changes to <strong>understand<\/strong> and then intervene effectively.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Changes in behaviours\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2021\/05\/06154310\/iceberg.png\" width=\"276\" height=\"259\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The iceberg image reminds us that the behaviour(s) that we see from a child\/young person (or adult) are a glimpse into the feelings and thinking of the individual.<\/p>\n<p>When someone is anxious they may show behaviours such as anger; avoidance; negativity; desire to control people and events; defiance; lack of focus; sleep issues; crying; having very high expectations of self (or others).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It may also be that the child&#8217;s anxiety is higher or more apparent in one context than another. Sometimes an individual might &#8216;mask&#8217; their anxiety as a way of coping or avoiding showing their true feelings to other people. As above, the behaviour(s) seen (or not seen) is\/are not a true reflection of how the person is feeling. It is important that <strong>assessment<\/strong> is undertaken to <strong>understand<\/strong> the child\/young person&#8217;s anxiety as making assumptions about what or where (context) the anxiety is related to may miss important information needed to support the child\/young person fully.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1098 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2021\/05\/12143838\/reminder.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"126\" \/>In general, these changes in body, thinking and behaviours are natural and temporary in response to positive or tolerable levels of stress or anxiety (see stressor continuum above) that will lead to good learning experiences for children and young people.\u00a0 Even in these circumstances, there will be interventions that will be useful to help the child\/young person through this process.<\/p>\n<p>More detailed <strong>assessment<\/strong> is required when children\/young people show more prolonged or widespread concerns from stress\/anxiety, where the &#8216;stressors&#8217; have thought to have reduced and the child\/young person&#8217;s wellbeing is still impacted,\u00a0 or where children\/young people may or are known to have signs of toxic stress and anxiety.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Anxiety cycle\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2225 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2026\/02\/06155339\/Anxiety-cycle-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"333\" height=\"295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2026\/02\/06155339\/Anxiety-cycle-1.png 601w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2026\/02\/06155339\/Anxiety-cycle-1-300x266.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\" \/>\u00a0 \u00a0 <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2227 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2026\/02\/06155803\/anxiety-cycle-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"390\" height=\"276\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The anxiety cycle (simple version or more detailed version above) can be used to understand and explain how anxiety starts and can become more reinforced and problematic for people. As explained in the other content, anxiety is natural and our brain and bodies use it to assess if we are in any danger. Our brain and body will react if we are in danger and make sure we take action to be safe through a &#8216;flight&#8217; (avoid) or sometimes a &#8216;fight&#8217; response. When this is successful we get the intended safety and relief from the danger we were in. When someone gets into a pattern of believing, experiencing and responding to something (or multiple things) (fear stimulus) as dangerous or threatening then they avoid (or have other safety seeking behaviours).\u00a0 This brings brief relief from the anxiety they are experiencing.\u00a0 However, this means that their safety seeking behaviours become reinforced and the person is not building their coping skills or experiencing corrective experiences. Therefore, their thoughts or behaviours about the &#8216;fear stimulus&#8217; continue unchallenged and continue to be misinterpreted by their brain and body meaning their anxiety or anxieties sustain and grow.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Resilience and Universal approaches<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Resilience, which is directly related to wellbeing, is having the ability to cope with the inevitable challenges and problems individuals encounter in their life. Resilience is also important in helping us cope with changes and new situations we encounter in our lives. And importantly to learn from these experiences.<\/p>\n<p>There are factors that have been shown to support resilience (<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2020\/10\/16132717\/resilience-factors.pdf\">Resilience factors<\/a>). What is critical is that resilience is something that can be developed and enhanced for all children, young people and adults.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">For most children, attending education establishments with <strong>strong relationship- based practices<\/strong> including <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2018\/09\/Nurturing-Schools-Pack-FINAL.pdf\">nurturing approaches<\/a> will effectively meet the majority of children\u2019s wellbeing needs. Adults and children can enhance their wellbeing by investing in the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2020\/08\/19154440\/NHS-wellbeing-framework.jpg\">wellbeing self-care elements<\/a>. This is particularly important when additional life changes or challenges are encountered.<\/p>\n<p>While Adverse Childhood Experiences undermine development and negatively affect the foundations of brain growth (see video above), resilience can help repair these structural differences and allow a person recovery from the trauma or adversity they had experienced.<\/p>\n<p>We are encouraged to move away from asking, &#8220;What is wrong with you?&#8221; to &#8221; We want to understand what happened and what can we do to help&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/anxiety-toolkit\/strengthening-understanding-of-anxiety-assessment\/\">Strengthening Understanding of Anxiety (assessment)\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/anxiety-toolkit\/strengthening-understanding-of-anxiety-assessment\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1109 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2021\/05\/12154335\/next-page-computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"182\" height=\"50\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2021\/05\/12154335\/next-page-computer.jpg 600w, https:\/\/glow-prod-fa.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/fa\/public\/epspractitioners\/uploads\/sites\/2864\/2021\/05\/12154335\/next-page-computer-300x80.jpg?X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&amp;X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjELL%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCWV1LXdlc3QtMSJIMEYCIQDD0V4kzT5%2B34jDbH%2FUYqjMWCdkDNYgBB%2F%2FUHRB3Ek8agIhALaVOKhqp3JofVo3iFZZFXaYk%2BB6nk35lUJBRvAc8m3NKrgFCHsQBRoMMjczNTcwMTk1NDMzIgzRzmHr%2BVAtJPSFg1AqlQUQazmuiesIW1SrNXgNZ5r55qts7HKH4wuIXE5COFKZkmrZuTf9u4K3TXJrrv%2FH2wGgKXgMwksm2D3nTirAZ1KLZrQmafFnxawpQBRZVFoBP32kMjDT3TwIEL8wVb%2Bw3i%2F5fl8HCPIpmFBORiQy1reby0SsSraGzl7jpGpRFEEZCbtrkAzs%2BTg2%2BnX52CZu9gF%2FyW00BnLYmfzi4q1kOTbjtGaJalhIhC1wnUsU6%2FUri23o2k3fO2bD%2FFg4ai4wAUiB6Bzcf9w8DzQvclpTt1Z%2B7ycY8YwAbkUL2KUOBoRZKFpYxd6iIK9H7zfpb8YkWOimkKMzqtMXyH808eLOGfJ8h%2FkMXO3%2BMVFXBGnETtvhjInpTgI8Rpz0zbKi5mHxP10xG5kFJqzly1ROmBGNKb5vZe32N2VcbI0DXci2q3OpSS%2FgEuqCC7RxLEKkOFNrlvaCIWGvE51LLIrlqFokwjzYGoWho1PI3uDtrG6z9MVLY3ijcD5eR8fhtfg%2BuhWc%2BjJaVOwfjhpXEqs%2BDqWIMkhqT5m0CYAg%2B3zNMBX%2BQmucei0U8KYgu9Xu9zZJL8veTIou3afknVRu6fANolkE71a1q6zlPo8y3rfsKoSyqg9NbA0QSI%2FEc0cMY88jNmFcAhPOapyDy3ZIPZcIIwG2cwAddFSyw5uJ5czxzifk4lsyfUX6xGQYKSh9OYGdkYVIfH9p0IPxeruwXXsujTFmUXQqScbK21xSHSyrvdmdwvyYXQTN0aSjTltO3lHZme18D%2FD51HR8nD%2B5LA1KV4bwQqNxHcrMf5WKK9MC2VeCvXWENrrLc4nBbLiGuWVI7C3Lss1hKyp2QFKCIjY2gNb%2FdFaWTZ99LWIEzdXWRohppMmcjgJjW7JjMJzQ9M4GOrABaieYGp%2FkKZGmrZ2dhBCUUR94CzhKUeHJ6wssXU7l9Axg3OCs2QlSkx4aeG0pic64qTX5kVw%2FlpYcdp5x9%2Bp8PtqKNKFeGE9bB5o9jiRiVuwfhaxFbsKIRdWeyifgoWKmwBpnjP2Ok45mVcjpRCp5NMZcUBp9Z6oU4VhE4RMwwN8ve%2F6ZhMWeDVVEdn2fr0%2Fpm9%2F9sv3LlpC8%2Fl0vLxLYREmmn3KH1UIpzbFg6sxXP7U%3D&amp;X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&amp;X-Amz-Credential=ASIAT7MQN47UXVWZ6XY7%2F20260413%2Feu-west-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&amp;X-Amz-Date=20260413T173712Z&amp;X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&amp;X-Amz-Expires=900&amp;X-Amz-Signature=b2f1ac8b7edcee7f921598d3f616eaa02ff0c55ffbe20f1a1d8131bd1cba8808 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 182px) 100vw, 182px\" \/><\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Understanding Anxiety Occasional anxiety is an expected part of life for everyone. Experiencing anxiety at higher levels is also to be expected for children, young people and adults at different times in their development and as a result of different experiences or circumstances in their life. Most anxieties are temporary and are to be expected &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9304,"featured_media":0,"parent":625,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-668","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9304"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=668"}],"version-history":[{"count":61,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2234,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/668\/revisions\/2234"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/epspractitioners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}