Fear, phobia in children
Fear and phobia in children are a part of development. Fears are also instinctive. Every child can experience these fears at almost any stage of life. Children also develop fear and phobia. According to Piaget, there are certain periods of human development. Each period has a developmental stage and thinking system. Every child thinks and develops with this system.
Children also experience fear and phobia
0-18 months motor period
18 months-6 years concrete preoperational period
6 years-12 years concrete It is the processing period.
Fear and phobia in children. Children begin to grow in a safe environment from the womb. With birth, this safe environment begins to deteriorate. There is a direct contact with the outside world. As the day goes by, the mother and father who protect him as he grows up, move away from him a little bit, and he is faced with new information and new experiences. Every new knowledge and experience is a state of imbalance. And the child has to fight these and internalize them and achieve a healthy adaptation. Every experience process, starting from infancy, forms the basis of fear and phobia in children.
Fears change shape over time. Fears, which begin with fear of strangers or a simple sound in infancy, change shape over time with cognitive development and learning and begin to become more sophisticated. Fear of the dark, fear of loneliness, over time, reaches more abstract dimensions such as fear of spiritual structures.
According to many psychotherapists, the basis of psychological problems experienced in adolescence and adulthood lie in unresolved fears experienced in infancy and childhood.
Constantly experiencing fear about some issues and not being able to adapt and find solutions cause the development of phobia. Phobias are the pathological form of fears experienced. These are unresolved fears that have become a crisis.
While simple reactions are given in fears, phobias give very intense and violent reactions. We can list these reactions as follows:
- Palpitation
- Face flush
- Tremors
- Sweating
- Dry mouth
- Dizziness
- Balance problem
- Feeling of escaping from the environment
Breathing balance Reactions such as weakness and shortness of breath are given. As phobic reactions increase, psychological problems begin to emerge. For this reason, if there is an increase in phobic behaviors, uncontrollable reactions, and social and business life has started to be restricted due to phobic fears, it is necessary to consult a child-adolescent mental health specialist. Fears that are not resolved in time can cause great damage to the lives of children, adolescents and adults.
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