Things you can do to reduce children’s anxiety

Many children experienced the earthquake for the first time or heard the term earthquake and came across images in the media. Expressing that children’s understanding of earthquakes is different from that of adults, Lecturer Specialist Clinical Psychologist. To see. Selin Kalabaş said: “To reduce children’s anxiety, uncertainty must be removed. To make sure they understand the events, explanations should be given according to their age.

“THE EARTHQUAKE SUBJECT CAN BE EXPLAINED USING GAMES AND IMAGES”

In the preschool period, children often resort to “why” questions. While it is very important to provide short and clear answers to children’s questions at this age, their questions should be answered in an age-appropriate manner if they do not understand and ask again. While there are differences in the children’s questions, the child who encounters the earthquake concept is “Am I safe?” Stated that he was looking for an answer to the question, Specialist Clinical Psychologist Lecturer. To see. Selin Kalabas said, “First of all, adults need to heal themselves to reduce children’s anxiety. Since the concept of permanence and continuity is not yet fully developed in the preschool period, they may think that the destroyed houses will return to their original state or that the dead will be brought back to life. During this period it is especially important to give concrete answers to the questions asked. The subject of the earthquake can be explained using games and pictures.

CHILDREN HAVE DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY A CAUSE AND RESULT RELATIONSHIP

Kalabaş stated that the concepts of continuity and sustainability have developed in school age children and said: “Children at this age know that dead people or destroyed houses will not be replaced, but it is not like an adult to accept the situation . In order to get to know children’s feelings during this period, adults should not hide their feelings and share the situation with them without irritating, allowing children to express their own feelings,” he said, talking to school-aged children and highlighting the importance of providing information about the earthquake in an age-appropriate manner.

Kalabaş stressed that children should be told about the earthquake without going into too much detail about the movements of the Earth’s crust and natural events. This should not be forgotten. Talk to children about the effects and consequences of the earthquake; must rest without interfering with the feelings and thoughts of the child, without giving advice and, above all, without suppressing his feelings.

Claiming that the images and videos shared about the earthquake negatively affect children, Expert Clinical Psychologist Lecturer. To see. Selin Kalabash ended her words as follows;

“Because children up to the age of 7 or 8 have trouble distinguishing dreams from reality, they may fear that they and their family will experience the same event. When they see the footage, it is imperative to explain the situation and help them understand the events through chat.”