health

Fear and anxiety
Fear and anxiety (ang-ZY-e-tee) are similar emotions
but with an important difference. Fear is the emotion that people
feel when a danger is actually present, while anxiety is the fear connected
with worrying about danger that might happen.

Childhood fears
Certain fears are common and normal during childhood.
In fact, all children have fears at times during their lives. Because so
much of the world is new to children, they may fear certain things until
they understand them better or are better able to cope. Fear serves a protective
purpose, keeping children appropriately cautious while they learn
about what is safe and what is dangerous.
Fears of animals, loud noises, or being in water are common in very
young children, who are still learning to understand the information
their senses are gathering. Babies as young as eight months old may fear
strangers, and this is a sign that the baby is able to recognize his parents
and to tell them apart from strangers.
Young children often fear imaginary creatures such as monsters, ghosts,
and witches. Because imagination is developing at a rapid pace but the
young child has not yet developed the ability to tell the difference between
what is real and what is make-believe, these imaginary things can seem
dangerous. Children tend to outgrow fears of imaginary creatures as soon
as they are able to understand the difference between real and pretend.
Older children are more likely to fear real-life things such as burglars,
being hurt or lost, or natural disasters such as earthquakes and extreme
weather like hurricanes. These children may need reassurance and support
from parents while they learn to cope with worry and fear and gain confidence
in dealing with life’s challenges.

Learned fears
Fearful parents tend to have fearful children. Without
realizing it, parents may teach children to be too fearful or cautious of certain
things, not so much by what they say but by how they act. If a mother
always crosses the street to avoid dogs and gets a little pale when a dog
is nearby, chances are the child will learn to be afraid of dogs. Research
has found that fears or worries can run in families. It may be that certain
fear reactions are inherited, but people do not have to live with them just
because they may be inherited.
Fears can be “unlearned.” If the fearful child watches another child
calmly approach and pat a dog, she is learning that petting a dog can be
safe and pleasant. By watching and then learning to go toward the dog
slowly herself, with the right adult support, she can learn to overcome
her fear of dogs. When leaving home, even to go to school, is too scary
or when people avoid important activities because of fearfulness, professional
help may be needed to help “unlearn” fears.