By Sarah Chana Radcliffe
When is showing patience and compassion the WRONG thing to do?
In general, you should resist the urge to reassure your anxious child because reassurance helps to maintain and even increase anxiety over the long run. However, if you have a child who asks the same question (or a very similar question) repeatedly - a question that she actually knows the answer to - it is ESSENTIAL that you don't keep answering and reassuring. Doing so in this latter scenario is actually aiding and abetting (i.e. worsening) the symptoms of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). "I answered that already," can be said ONCE in this case, followed by refusing to answer further questions. The first time you do this (and only on that one occasion) let the child know why you are not going to be answering repeated questions and their variations.
