Anxiety Disorders in Children
Children and teens have anxiety in their lives, and like adults, they can suffer from anxiety disorders, too. Anxiety symptoms and disorders are the number one health problem in America, ranging from a simple Adjustment Disorder to more difficult and debilitating disorders such as Panic Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
Although quite common, Anxiety Disorders in children often are overlooked or misjudged, despite them being very treatable conditions with good, persistent medical care. Given the wide range of stressors associated with growing up, it is important that our children have appropriate skills for coping with anxiety and other difficult emotions.
Consensus is that many “adult” psychiatric disorders likely have their first (although perhaps subtle or ignored) manifestations in childhood, and that if left untreated these anxiety disorders in children likely progress to adult versions.
Many different anxiety disorders affect children and adolescents. Several disorders and their signs are described below:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Children and adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder engage in extreme, unrealistic worry about everyday life activities. They worry unduly about their academic performance, sporting activities, or even about being on time. Typically, these young people are very self-conscious, feel tense, and have a strong need for reassurance. They may complain about stomachaches or other discomforts that do not appear to have any physical cause.
Separation Anxiety Disorder: Children with separation anxiety disorder often have difficulty leaving their parents to attend school or camp, stay at a friend's house, or be alone. Often, they "cling" to parents and have trouble falling asleep. Separation anxiety disorder may be accompanied by depression, sadness, withdrawal, or fear that a family member might die.
Phobias: Children and adolescents with phobias have unrealistic and excessive fears of certain situations or objects. Many phobias have specific names, and the disorder usually centers on animals, storms, water, heights, or situations, such as being in an enclosed space. Children and adolescents with social phobias are terrified of being criticized or judged harshly by others. Young people with phobias will try to avoid the objects and situations they fear, so the disorder can greatly restrict their lives.
Panic Disorder: Repeated "panic attacks" in children and adolescents without an apparent cause are signs of a panic disorder. Panic attacks are periods of intense fear accompanied by a pounding heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, nausea, or a feeling of imminent death. The experience is so scary that young people live in dread of another attack. Children and adolescents with the disorder may go to great lengths to avoid situations that may bring on a panic attack. They also may not want to go to school or to be separated from their parents.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder, sometimes called OCD, become trapped in a pattern of repetitive thoughts and behaviors. Even though they may recognize that the thoughts or behaviors appear senseless and distressing, the pattern is very hard to stop. Compulsive behaviors may include repeated hand washing, counting, or arranging and rearranging objects.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Children and adolescents can develop post-traumatic stress disorder after they experience a very stressful event. Such events may include experiencing physical or sexual abuse; being a victim of or witnessing violence; or living through a disaster, such as a bombing or hurricane. Young people with post-traumatic stress disorder experience the event over and over through strong memories, flashbacks, or other kinds of troublesome thoughts. As a result, they may try to avoid anything associated with the trauma. They also may overreact when startled or have difficulty sleeping.
Although children experience the symptoms of anxiety in much the same way as adults do, they display and react to symptoms differently. This can lead to difficulties in diagnosis, and it may be difficult to determine if a child's behavior is "just a phase" or whether it constitutes a disorder.
Anxiety is a subjective sense of worry, apprehension, fear and distress. Often it is normal to have these sensations on occasion, and so it is important to distinguish between normal levels of anxiety and unhealthy or pathologic levels of anxiety. The subjective experience of anxiety typically has two components: physical sensations (e.g., headache, nausea, sweating) and the emotions of nervousness and fear. Anxiety disorders, when severe, can affect a child's thinking, decision-making ability, perceptions of the environment, learning and concentration. It raises blood pressure and heart rate, and can cause a multitude of bodily complaints, such as nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, ulcers, diarrhea, tingling, weakness, and shortness of breath, among other things.
There are several types of Psychological Therapy available for children suffering from an Anxiety Disorder. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: addresses underlying “automatic” thoughts and feelings that result from thoughts, as well as specific techniques to reduce or replace maladaptive behavior patterns. Psychotherapy: Centers on resolution of conflicts and stresses, as well as the developmental aspects of an anxiety disorders solely through talk therapy. Behavioral Therapies: focus on using techniques such as guided imagery, relaxation training, progressive desensitization, flooding as means to reduce anxiety responses or eliminate specific phobias
By MaryEllen Smith Tavares
