Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy multiple emotional meltdowns - what to do?

That is very informative/interesting HappilyMom.

Maybe that is why I have recently noticed some of the top achieving High School students in our area are cross country runners.

Happilymom, thanks for mentioning the impact of aerobic exercise on serotonin production. I hadn't been aware of that, but my dd8 has always been an extremely anxious child and prone to huge meltdowns... She started going to gymnastics after school th is year, where she gets a really really intense aerobic workout as part of her training, and her meltdowns have decreased significantly, and also her overall anxiety has noticeably decreased.... She used to always ALWAYS wake up in the middle of the night scared from a nightmare and now she sleeps through the night. She's also just overall, all day long, much more capable of holding her emotions in check *most* of the time. This morning, she had a huge meltdown and temper tantrum again.... And last night she didn't go to the gym but instead was at a dance rehearsal where she was not active except for a few minutes here and there.

Anyway, for dd, every day intense exercise has helped tremendously with anxiety.

polarbear

So glad that others of you are seeing positive results for your children with exercise as well! I'm becoming deeply interested in neuroscience the more I learn and I wish more helping professionals were better informed about the biology and physiology underlying the symptoms we are seeing and experiencing instead of only labeling the symptom clusters.

Isn't being too scared to go through with an activity quite normal for a child? Ds5.75 was really excited about going to karate but wouldn't get off my knee, the second time he was telling me all week how he was going to do it this time then 10 mins before the class decided he didn't want to go. For preschool dance I had to dance with him for four classes. Ds3.5 is much better though.

A little update - things are way better now - he's eleven and appears to have learned how to cope with and manage those feelings. Maybe high school (starts at grade 8 here) will reopen that door but for now much better. Thought that might give some of you some hope.

A little update - things are way better now - he's eleven and appears to have learned how to cope with and manage those feelings. Maybe high school (starts at grade 8 here) will reopen that door but for now much better. Thought that might give some of you some hope.