1.
GENERALISED ANXIETY DISORDER (GAD)-Dr Rupa Talukdar
In recent pastwith smallday’s gap I got chances meeting four or five children of age group 6-
16 years old: they are overly sensitive to their environment, cannot even respond to the words
of others normally; very cute in looking but indifferent in attitudes.As they enter my chamber
they become extremely conscious about others present there.
They behave not identically but in the eyes of psychologist they are similar in signs and
symptoms. Before going into detail ofthe signs and symptoms I take interest to analyze their
pattern of grooming and parenting style of their parents.
I think the behavior ofparents is very important as it helps a child to groom naturally if the parenting style is assertive. I find a common
behavior in the parents of above mentioned children.
 They are from either middle class or upper middle class family background
 Only one child
 Parents expect their child to be good as per expectation in subject which
they teach/offer
 Over protective/over caring/over possessive nature of parents
 Control their child in every aspect of life: child has no freedom
 Overly sensitive parents, at least one of them
 Parent who takes the care of child is extremely anxiety prone and
insecure in nature
 Parent who takes the care of child has trust problem and has tendency
to dominate child
 Always criticize child, no mercy at any mistake done by child,
maintains a strict schedule in organizing child’s daily work
 They allow child to enjoy life not as child’s enthusiasm, it is their
decision and if they agree they can continue otherwise don’t allow child to be
with the likeness.

2.
Most problematic is thatthey cannot understand how it spoils child’s emotion,as child grows old s/he becomes (within 6-7 years old)
 Overly sensitive with stiff muscle appearance
 Cannot take failure easily
 Always overly conscious of their living environment, cannot tolerate
any cue irrespective of its nature( negative/positive)
 Loss of attention, slow in understanding, increase of restlessness,
deteriorating his/her standard of studies in school
 No skill in taking decision, develops repeated thought process, even not
willing to initiate conversation
 Feelings of extreme insecurity, fumble in responding, only secure being
at home, loss of skill of interpersonal communication
 Becoming highly defencive, every time find fault in system and others,
as they grow this blame proneness behavior takes the place of normal
behavior
 All time watching others and their reactions about themselves, it stop
them behaving spontaneously and ultimate they prefers staying at home
rejecting whole out world
The children suffering from GAD has no particular issues, in general
they suffer from extreme anxiety. Their tolerance level almost reduces to
zero. ‘Mind full’ brings anxiety but ‘mindful’ exercises on feeling of
happiness that helps human being to be free of anxiety.
How to behave with them (start from home):
 First work is to allow them behaving normally without any hesitation. Instead of criticizing them parents should allow to react as they think and
make them understand after their reaction in a friendly gesture
 Parents of GAD children in most cases are anxiety prone, so make it a habit to visit/watch always places/movie that will help to stay in positive
mood: Art Museum, Science Museum, attend Science Workshops
 Allow children practising comedy, learning musical instruments, colourful drawing-it soothes them for living a entirely positive life

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 Keep children away of visiting general museum as it may bring anxiety and the its vibes may not be suitable for them till 8-10 years
 Practising regular drawing with colour will keep them colourful
 Children with GAD suffer from general muscle tightness, so they need relaxation and meditation on a regular basis: so Progressive Muscle
Relaxation is highly helpful for them-meditation is nothing but being concentrated or focus: it is really essential and its approaches may be of
different types, with the child suitability parents may change its process time to time for overcoming the boredom of following same routine
 Breathing practice: it helps to enter oxygen into the body and that creates a freshness in mind and remove fatigue
 Mindfulness training for parents and child both: If the child has anxiety problem mindfulness practice needs to be followed by both child and
also parents, specially mother.
Now we should have good idea of MINDFULNESS TRAINING:
What willbe the MINDFUILNESS TRAINING that depends on the lifestyle
of individuals: apparently the lifestyle of Indian parents and children are
same, but no, there are some sorts ofdifferences at individual level. So here I
introduce some instances of how it can be, it is you to find situation from
your way of living.
 GAD child is always pre-occupied so it should begin with breathing exercise,
parents will initiate it and child will follow them: more oxygen means more
energy, if child and parents start together, it will bring happy moments in life
and child enjoys togetherness, that will reduce fatigue and brings freshness
 Parents needs to try not to be specific and too much organized in their daily life,
GAD child is always anxiety prone, so allow them to do their job on their own
style, it may be not in order like their parents, but executing a job is here
priority instead of organizing well
 Parents may sit together and initiate a soft story from their past and ask child to
finish it from their imagination
 Parents will make their children to say story from his life and help to finish it with a positive ending

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 "Kids are sponges. So at the end of the day that's really good modeling for the kids because the kids are also going to be imperfect in their
lifetime.": parents will help them to behave perfectly with openness and compassion, and maybe that's enough at any moment
 Help kids to be with purpose, it always keeps them motivated and focus
 Practise kid to say something or invite kids to participate in storytelling session from imagination: initiation made by parents
 Help kid to identify their negative thought by themselves: For these parents/teachers should give them a little more space and freedom and be
with them being non-interfering.
Stress reduction and self-acceptance are two of the major perks of mindfulness, benefits Winston says, are particularly important
during the drama andturmoil-filled teen years. "Emotionalregulation, learning how to quiet one's mind—those are invaluable skills."
In daily life keep kids/adolescents busy with constant analysis of events around them, as for example, say about TOUCH; how
does your own skin feels? Explore your own hand. Ask your family members and friends if you can touch their skin and how
they feel of your skin. Is there any difference? Is one softer or harder? Cool? Smooth? Or warm? Rough? Silky? In this way not
with ‘TOUCH” only, parents can encourage their kids also to think and analyze any other interesting cues: it helps them to
enhance their analytical skill and at last they can feel that there are actually no differences in approach of life.
GAD has been found in a family where some members are suffering from anxiety, so if there is any symptom found in child of the
same family, parents need to teach themselves how to mend their child’s anxiety: parents’ positive gesture will be a great help in
managing the kid’s anxiety.