If you are a person who has constant stress and you have realized that it is beginning to affect your family, then the time has come to take action. Your children don't deserve to have to deal with the stress you have every day. The good news is that you can remedy and be a good role model for stress management for your children.
Have a plan
Create strategies beforehand to handle specific situations that trigger your stress. You can even involve your child in the plan. If, for example, you feel anxious about getting your child ready for bed at a reasonable time, talk to him about how you can work together to better handle this stressful transition in the future. Maybe you can come up with a plan where I earn points to get a privilege every time you go through your nightly routine without complaining about your bedtime.
These strategies should be used sparingly - you shouldn't hold your child responsible for managing your anxiety if it permeates many aspects of your life. But watching you implement a plan to curb specific moments of anxiety lets you know. that stress can be tolerated and managed.
Learn to disconnect
If you know that a situation is causing you undue stress, you may want to plan ahead for being absent from that situation so that your children don't interpret you as insecure. Say, for example, that leaving your children at school fills you with separation anxiety.
Eventually you want to be able to take your child to school, but if you are still in treatment, you can ask a parent or adult to take care of the delivery. You do not want to model this expression very worried about separating yourself from your children because you will be transmitting it to your children ... You don't want your little one to think that there is something dangerous about dropping him off at school.
In general, if you feel like you are feeling overwhelmed by anxiety in the presence of your child, try taking a break. If you start to have stress, do activities that make you feel better: go for a walk, drink tea, take a bath or just walk out the door to enjoy the air. Trust that the anxiety will and will pass.
Have a support system
Trying to be a parent while struggling with your own mental health can be challenging, but you don't have to do it alone. Trust the people in your life who will step in when you're feeling overwhelmed, or even just offer words of support. These people can be therapists, parents, your partner or friends.
You can also seek support on blogs, Internet forums, and social media. Find the place where you feel comfortable and you will realize that you are not alone. There are many other people who are and who feel like you, so it is a good idea that you share your experiences and allow yourself to nurture your knowledge with the experiences of other people. Your family life will improve tremendously when you realize that you can control your anxiety!