Frightened 11 year old

[Needtobefitterrr]

My 11 year old has always been a little anxious. But lately it’s ramped up. He sleeps on my bedroom floor on a mattress and wakes in the night with frequent nightmares. He can’t get himself to sleep as he’s too scared. (This time it’s about Pennywise - another kid told him about “It”.)

He also gets upset at the idea of going to school a lot, even though no bullying etc is happening there and he generally comes out in a good mood. Ruins his Sunday crying about it, etc.

What can I do to help his anxiety? It’s affecting his life as he’s always tired.

You could do a lot worse than talk to Therese Langford of https://www.facebook.com/calmmindhypnotherapy - she specialises in mental health issues in children.

There might not be outright bullying, but even witnessing bullying puts kids on high alert as they are frightened they might be the next victim. My daughter spent ages getting ready each morning because she was convinced that if her hair didn’t look perfect someone would say something nasty and start bullying her. Schools are awful nowadays. It’s like being a fish in a tank of sharks trying to constantly hide

I think giving him a bit of a challenge is nice, so he will have other fun things to think about before bedtime. I suggest checking out some learning crafts from www.twinkl.com. It might help him find some exciting artworks that he'll focus on more than all those horror stories.

A different outlet is a good idea! I will try that! Maybe some other sport or craft!

He’s in year 6, but has been told “everyone gets bullied in secondary school”, so I’ve no idea if that’s part of it or not. He didn’t seem worried about that when I talked to him about it. But surely that’s a scary thing to hear!

I have been thinking of having him speak to someone. Maybe a child therapist? He doesn’t have anything wrong with his life as such, but he has a really overactive imagination, which I think leads to anxiety maybe?

Is this an ad for twinkle? It doesn't seem like an obvious response to the OP's problem.

No not. Just suggestions you can try to get his mind off horror stuffs. Theres a lot of other platforms you can explore like tpt, ixl. Twinkl is just one but there are more. It helps to divert his mind to a more productive and challenging ways you could easily access online. And i think those resources are readily available for download as well.