Originally Posted by
specialp
I think it is normal approach for a child who has normal fears like every child, but not necessarily for a child whose fears are fueled and fed by anxiety. How does a parent react when that fear doesn’t go away in a “normal timeframe with normal parent help” and gets bigger and spreads? I'm sure some people do start doing things that make life easier for everyone, but which isn't necessarily beneficial longterm. Most do not seek treatment for their children’s anxiety unless and until it becomes extreme - affecting parents’ or child's life or school issues and at that point it is obvious it is anxiety and parents feel helpless and exhausted and unqualified to be a part of a solution. I can see how having a professional there guiding the parent through this long process would be helpful.
You know all the ads about swim safety and how drowning doesn’t look like what people think it looks like? I think it is the same for anxiety. Before it becomes obvious, it isn’t, but it was there. It just didn’t look like what people thought anxiety would look like. I think a lot of it masquerades as other things, even normal childhood stuff - bad or annoying behavior that needs to be fixed/punished, a part of the personality that needs to be accepted, or a phase the child will grow out of.