Anxiety Toolkit
Step 1 : Recognizing what Anxiety is
Everybody experiences anxiety at some point in their lives but its frequency varies for different people. There are certain signs that can serve as indicators of anxiety. Recognizing those signs and being aware of their occurrence in various situation is the key to managing your mental resources effectively. Thus, talk about different symptoms of anxiety and how it expresses itself at an emotional, behavioral and physiological level. This will not only help in psycho-educating the child but will also make them feel secure to openly talk about mental health issues with people. You might use these images to demonstrate different aspects of the topic so that the child is able to connect with the information.
Step 2 : Play 'Feed-the Fish' game on tablet/phone app
Instructions:
The aim for the player is to feed the hungry fish. In order to accomplish this mission, the player has to drag the fish till it reaches the goal (plant). The player has to ensure that the fish or the finger doesn't touch the boundary of the path in order to avoid getting penalized. The player has to do this as patiently and calmly as possible. After three penalty points, the game will automatically reset itself and the fish will go back to the start state.
Step 3 : Reflecting on the learning
Take this step as an opportunity to bring everything learnt and discussed in the session together. Use real-life examples where the child tends to feel anxious to explain how to stay calm and think through the problem at hand rather than getting anxious about it. One such example is given here for reference:
The mission of the game represents any obstacle or challenging situation that the child might face. The technique to achieve the goal and ultimately win the game was to stay calm and patiently traverse the fish's path which represents how being mindful can help solve real-life challenges as well.
At this point, it will be helpful to use the Resources section of the website. There are suggestions on different techniques and strategies that they child can use when they are actually in that situation.
