Hi, I’m looking for advice from parents who may be in a similar position or have been through this also.
my daughter is 7, she’ll be 8 soon. We’ve been through a lot the past 4 years since I split with her father. We’ve been homeless, struggled financially and she’s seen me at my lowest whilst going through all of this bless her. She’s an absolute super star and has taken it all in her stride, she’s such an amazing girl.
I struggle with anxiety and depression which I try my hardest to hide this from her but sometimes this can be very difficult especially from what we’ve been through and not having really any support from family. She’s very mature mentally and understands things well for her age.
My daughter has always been anxious, I see myself in her and I’m scared. The past 6 months this anxiety has gotten worse, she worries about the littlest of things, will go through fazes where ‘her tummy feels funny’ which gets her down/upset and has an impact on her appetite and things she’s normally enjoy doing. School has become a real problem this term and she does not like it at all anymore. She’s struggles a lot with reading and is very behind for her age. She cannot concentrate for long and gets very frustrated if she can’t do something straight away. She’s very fidgety and cannot seem to sit still or relax really even at home. She’s very sensitive, gets upset by other children easily and struggles with friendships. I’ve tried everything I can to help and support her but she just seems to be getting worse. She had a stutter when she was younger that she mostly grew out of but this has recently returned and she feels embarrassed by this especially at school.
I’ve tried to hardest to try and resolve this by buying child friendly books about different emotions and worries, a worry monster, speaking to the teacher who wasn’t much help they pretty much have allowed her to have her a fidget toy in class that’s it and I openly communicate with her about her feelings etc but I don’t think she quite understands herself.
I have a GP appointment booked for next week for her but I don’t know where to start. I’m worried she’s just being left behind at school and I want her to thrive and be happy at school, have friends and it not be a fight everyday to get her to go.
any advice, opinions or suggestions will greatly be appreciated as I don’t know much about
child mental health apart from what I’ve seen online.
I’ve googled symptoms of ADHD/Anxiety in girls and she had a lot of those symptoms and I know girls can mask this well.
for reference me and her dad have been separated for 4 years and do not have a good co parenting relationship unfortunately.