🌴 Gratitude vs. Anxiety

Gratitude and Anxiety

As a parent, it’s easy to feel anxious.

How will life look if our family is sick this week? How am I supposed to deal with this new behavior my child is showing? When will everything get done around the house? How do I help my child who is battling anxiety? We certainly relate to frequently feeling these things! 

Recent studies show that gratitude and anxiety cannot coexist at the same time. Expressing and receiving gratitude releases dopamine and serotonin, which immediately lift our mood and put us in a state of mental rest. Anxiety puts us in our fight or flight mode, and these two states cannot occur at the same time in the brain.

So next time you or your child feels anxious, give it a try together. Take a deep breath, take a look around you and find five things to be grateful for. It doesn’t mean your anxieties won’t creep back in, but it is a foolproof way to get an immediate break from the weight of your world. What a great skill to instill in our children as well.