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Worries about weather can make it hard for kids to concentrate in school, Dr. Whiteside says. Some children will routinely check forecasts or develop fears of leaving the house. Dr. Whiteside says it's important that parents do not tell anxious children they are being silly or otherwise dismiss their fears.
Dr. Whiteside suggests using these tips when talking to kids about weather-related anxiety:
- Be calm and supportive. Tell children things like thunder won't hurt them. Explain that storms are a normal part of nature.
- Talk about storms matter-of-factly. Some kids may seem afraid of storms, but are really interested in learning more about them.
- The same type of exposure-based behavioral therapy used to defeat many worries and phobias works well with weather-related phobias. Dr. Whiteside says it boils down to helping children face their fears by gradually helping them learn they can handle a fear, and other uncertainties of life, on their own.
- Help children face their fear of storms by reading about them, or watching videos of tornadoes, hurricanes and other big storms.
- If the anxiety doesn't diminish, or begins to create greater stress for the child or the parent, get the assistance of a mental health professional.
"The important thing for parents is to remember to be warm and supportive of your child," Dr. Whiteside says. "If you get anxious or frustrated or upset, that's just going to make things worse. Try to stay calm and help your child gradually face their fears in a step-by-step fashion."
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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of "the needs of the patient come first." More than 3,700 physicians, scientists and researchers, and 50,100 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has campuses in Rochester, Minn; Jacksonville, Fla; and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz.; and community-based providers in more than 70 locations in southern Minnesota., western Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. These locations treat more than half a million people each year. To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about research and education, visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your health stories.
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