Visit this awesome online store for a truly useful selection of resources that will assist you in solving problems with stress, worry, panic and anxiety. You will find great deals on books, CDs, DVDs, relaxation gadgets and aromatherapy. Helpful tools and information for children, teens and adults.
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The Western Australian State government has recently announced a redirection of funds for child mental health intervention. Funding has been removed from the Andrew Relph School programme, which provided out of school education and intervention for children who were unable to attend mainstream schools due to mental illness. The funds have been redirected to in-school intervention and prevention.
Prevention programmes are absolutely essential and have found to be effective. Training in relaxation, resilience and positive thinking are excellent ‘immumisation’ techniques against the future development of debilitating mental health problems like depression and anxiety disorders. Prevention is definitely a more preferable option than intervention when it comes to depression, anxiety and panic attacks treatment.
Having said this, there must be a balance. Early intervention and prevention programmes cannot assist those who already suffer from such conditions. Surely funds must also be directed to assist those children who are already accessing a successful and effective programme that aims to help children rejoin the mainstream education system in a healthier state of mind. What is to become of those students who cannot attend school due to depression or anxiety disorders? If they are unable to attend school, they are unable to access school-based programmes!
If you have concerns about the funding of programmes for students with mental health conditions in Western Australia, please contact your local member of parliament to discuss this unjust redirection of funding. If you live elsewhere feel free to comment below or talk to your own local member to ensure that the educatational rights of mentally ill persons are guaranteed.
For some more information about this story read these articles:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/20/2662160.htm
http://www.wa.alp.org.au/news/0809/24-01.php
By purposefully teaching children how to relax, we can teach them how to develop into calm and confident children, rather than becoming ‘panic attacks children’. Parents and teachers should be aware that they are not alone in their efforts to help their kids be less anxious. There are a large number of useful resources available that can make the task of implementing these tips much easier.
There are a huge number of relaxation tools on the market. Unfortunately, the majority of these tools tend to be pitched to an adult audience. I say ‘unfortunate’ not because I am against the use of such tools for adults in treating anxiety and stress. Rather, it is unfortunate because we know that teaching these strategies early is far more beneficial as it arms children against the future development of anxiety and panic disorders. Prevention is the best panic attacks treatment you can get!
As children are at a very different stage of cognitive and emotional development, the tools aimed at an adult audience are not necessarily appropriate or effective for use with children. While the techniques may be similar for adults and children, the way in which the techniques are presented must, of necessity, be different.
As the name suggests, Relax Kids is a company that offers developmentally appropriate resources for assisting the development of calm and relaxed children. They have CDs, DVDs, books and ‘mood cards’ that can be used in teaching relaxation strategies. They also have a fantastic collection of free resources and information, including a free magazine.
I have used these products in my own practice as a school psychologist over the years. The kids I have worked with absolutely love them and I have found them to be highly effective in promoting calm approaches to anxious moments. If you have an anxious, worried or stressed child in your life, I highly recommend taking a look at the Relax Kids website.
