Chloe Chessell So, hi, my name is Chloe  Chessell and I’m a Post-Doctoral Researcher   and a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner at  the University of Oxford, and in this clip,   we’ll be talking about childhood anxiety. So,  to start with, thinking about what is anxiety   and when does anxiety become a problem? So,  anxiety is a normal emotion. We all experience   anxiety from time-to-time, and anxiety can  be helpful in certain circumstances. So,   for example, if you imagine that you’re crossing  a busy road, having a certain level of anxiety   might help to keep you safe in that situation.  But anxiety starts to become problematic when   it starts to interfere with things that  we need or want to be able to do in life. Anxiety is made up of three parts. So, we’ve got  anxious thoughts, anxious feelings or physical   sensations and our behaviours. And so, when we’re  in an anxiety provoking situation, we often have   anxious thoughts, and these thoughts are often  around the idea that something bad is going to   happen or that we might not be able to cope in  that feared situation. These anxious thoughts can   result in anxious feelings or physical sensations,  so things that we might notice in our body. So,   for example, children and young people, if  they’re feeling anxious, might say their   heart’s beating really fast or their breathing  is changing, or perhaps they’re experiencing   butterflies in their stomach, and that’s often  referred to as our fight or flight response. And these anxious thoughts and these  understandable feelings and physical sensations   can impact our behaviour, and so, typically, in  anxiety provoking situations, children and young   people might do things to try and keep themselves  safe. They might ask other people if things are   going to be okay or they might try and avoid  the anxiety provoking situation altogether. And   although this behaviour is really understandable,  these behaviours can keep anxiety going, because   the young person thinks the situation was only  okay because they engaged in these behaviours or   avoided the situation. So, they don’t get a chance  to learn what actually happens in that feared   situation. Does their fear come true? Can they  cope better than what they thought they might?   And so, the next time the young person encounters  that anxiety provoking situation, they have the   same anxious thoughts, the same anxious feelings  and physical sensations and the same behaviours.   And it forms a bit of an anxiety cycle that keeps  anxiety going for children and young people. And so, perhaps let’s think about an example,  to put that into context. So, let’s imagine that   it’s bedtime and a child is fearful of sleeping  on their own. Their anxious thought might be,   if I sleep on my own, I’ll be really scared that  something bad’s going to happen to mum and I’ll   be so scared that I won’t be able to sleep,  and I’ll be too tired for school tomorrow. So,   understandably, that anxious thought can result  in these unpleasant physical sensations or   feelings. So, the young person might feel  scared, they might feel sweaty palms, they   might feel those butterflies in their stomach or  their heart racing really fast. And as a result,   their understandable behaviour might be to insist  that their mum sleeps in the bed with them,   or to ask their mum over and over  if things are going to be okay. And again, although these behaviours are really  understandable, by getting their parent to sleep   in the bed with them, or by asking for lots of  reassurance that things are going to be okay,   that can keep the anxiety going. Because  the young person concludes that, you know,   it was only okay because mum slept in my bed, or  they told me things were going to be okay. So,   they don’t have the opportunity learn what happens  if I sleep in the bed on my own? Does anything bad   happen to mum? Can I cope better sleeping  on my own than I thought I might? And so,   the next time it comes to bedtime, the  young person has the same anxious thoughts,   the same unpleasant physical sensations, and  the same behaviour, and the cycle continues. So, when does anxiety become  a problem? As I mentioned,   anxiety is a normal emotion. We all do  feel anxious from time-to-time, and so,   it can be hard, as a parent, or as a Teacher, or  someone who works with children and young people,   to know when a young person’s experiencing  problematic levels of anxiety. And so, as I   mentioned before, anxiety becomes a problem when  it’s persistent and it starts to interfere in an   individual’s day-to-day life. So, what are some of  the signs, then, that this anxiety is problematic? Some of the signs that anxiety is becoming  a problem or getting in the way of a young   person’s life include things like if  they’re finding it harder to go to school   because of their worries. Their schoolwork might  also be suffering because of these worries,   or perhaps they’re participating less in class.  Children who have anxiety difficulties might also   find it hard to spend time with friends due to  their worries or might find it really hard to join   after school clubs or activities. It’s also common  that children who have anxiety difficulties might   find it hard to do age-appropriate activities. So,  for example, they might struggle to go upstairs on   their own or they might struggle to walk to school  with a friend, without their parent being there. Children who experience problematic levels of  anxiety might also have trouble sleeping. So,   they might have trouble getting to sleep. So,  they’ve got lots of worries going on in their   mind. They might wake up in the night worrying or  perhaps wake up early in the morning with lots of   worries going on. And also, as well, when a child  is feeling particularly anxious, it can impact   their mood. So, they might feel low or irritable  or they might feel more angry than usual.