Childhood Anxiety: The Anxious Child

It is common for young children and adolescents to have anxious feelings, worries or fears when growing up. Many will have normal amounts of distress due to apprehension about a new experience, going to school, or during a thunder storm, however some children may show an excessive or overwhelming sense of dread or fear regarding these same situations. Other children will fixate on these situations, not being able to stop thinking about it. These children get so worked up in their fears, that they can’t stop thinking about it and end up not being able to do normal every day activities, like playing, going to school, sleeping or trying new things.

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In general young children can have a fear of strangers, a fear of animals, a fear of the dark, etc. Many of these anxious children are tense and uptight. Many seek a lot of reassurance while others worry all the time. Some anxious children, on the other hand, may be very quiet, compliant and eager to please. There are many different indications of childhood anxiety so parents need to be vigilant so that they can do something to help their child.

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According to American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s article, "Facts for Families: The Anxious Child" (https://www.aacap.org/App_Themes/AACAP/) there are different types of anxiety in children. The following is a list of the types of anxiety and their symptoms:

Symptoms of Separation Anxiety:

• constant thoughts and intense fears about the safety of parents and caretakers
• refusing to go to school
• frequent stomachaches and other physical complaints
• extreme worries about sleeping away from home
• being overly clingy
• panic or tantrums at times of separation from parents
• trouble sleeping or nightmares

Symptoms of Phobia:

• extreme fear about a specific thing or situation (ex. dogs, insects, or needles)
• the fears cause significant distress and interfere with usual activities

Symptoms of social anxiety:

• many worries about things before they happen
• constant worries or concerns about family, school, friends, or activities
• repetitive, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) or actions (compulsions)
• fears of embarrassment or making mistakes
• low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence

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Also according to American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, severe anxiety problems in children can be treated. They recommend early treatment because it can prevent eventual problems with loss of friendships, failure to reach social and academic potential and development of low self-esteem. Some treatments may include psychotherapy, family therapy, medications, behavioral treatments and consultation to the school.

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In another article by Marisa Cohen, Parents.com (http://www.parents.com/health/mental) called, “How to Help Your Anxious Child”, psychologist Steven Kurtz, Ph.D., said regarding anxiety prone children, “It’s just the luck of the genetic draw. There’s a sort of smoke detector in your head that’s supposed to go off when the brain perceives danger and it triggers the fight-or-flight response. In anxious kids, their smoke detector is set to a much more sensitive level and they also have a much more dramatic reaction.” According to this article, there’s a family connection. Kids with an anxious parent are up to seven times more likely to have an anxiety disorder compared with kids whose parents are not anxious. In some cases there is a link to both biological and behavioral when parents are overprotective and a parent has a history of anxiety.

According to Dr. Tamar Chanskp, Ph.D. author of ”Freeing Your Child From Anxiety,” “A major event can sometimes make a child feel like everything in life is changing and nothing is predicatable.” Very difficult situations like the death of a close relative, parents going through a divorce, moving or financial difficulties for the family can also make the anxiety go into such a level that it creates an actual anxiety disorder in the child.

Dr. Steven Kurtz believes if the child’s worries are keeping him/her from going to school, playing with friends or no longer engaging in social activities that he/she once enjoyed, and begins to complain of headaches or stomachaches that are not medically related, then the child may have a condition that requires treatment.

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The article ”How to Help Your anxious Child” went on to say that anxiety is one of the most treatable psychological disorder in kids with therapy intervention and medication. Research has found that about 80% of children can control their anxiety and live a happy life. But the article did warn that if parents let their child’s situation go untreated, thinking that he/she will just grow out of it, it is unlikely that he/she will. With early intervention, many children suffering from anxiety can benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy alone without other interventions. They can learn ways to recognize what they’re feeling and then manage their reactions to it. They may still have some anxiety but at least they will develop coping skills and techniques to tamp it down to a manageable level.

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Unfortunately if the anxious child does not make progress with cognitive behavioral therapy or talk therapy and has difficulty eating, sleeping and coping with general life activities because they are so overwhelmed, the parents may have to consider the use of medication. For children with severe anxiety there are two types of medication that have found to be beneficial and effective: 1. Antidepressants which are selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors like Prozac and Zoloft which increase levels of serotonin (regulate moods). 2. Anti-anxiety drugs called benzodiazepines which can cause hyperactivity in young children and which become less effective over time. Before making this decision, it is important for parents to know all the side effects of these medications and must weigh the pros and cons.

Most anxious children have a combination of the following conditions:

Generalized anxiety disorder
Social anxiety
Selective mutism
Separation anxiety
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Phobia

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So in closing it is very important for parents to pay close attention to their children’s behaviors to look for any signs of extreme anxiety so that they can take early measures to help their children. The key is early intervention to deal with the anxiety before it leads to a more serious level requiring medication. We have to change our attitude that, “Oh, you will just grow out of it.”

In my next article on Childhood Anxiety I will go into more detail about the 6 conditions of childhood anxiety. Thank-you for joining me in this journey about Childhood Anxiety. If you would like to follow me, please check HERE.