Anxiety Disorders in Children

Children often have their own anxieties and worries during their growing up years. It is natural for small children to be a little worried when left alone in the dark or while preparing for exams. However, this anxiety can become a problem when it starts affecting the child's daily activities. A child having an anxiety disorder may have a low self-esteem, poor learning capabilities, and also difficulty forming relationships. There is also a chance that these children start abusing drugs and alcohol, when they become teenagers or adults.

The reason for anxiety disorders in children can be attributed to mainly three factors, i.e. genetic, personality and environment. Researchers believe that a child of a parent having an anxiety disorder is likely to develop one due to inheritance of faulty genes. Sometimes, the basic nature or personality of a child may be such that he is fearful and worries all the time for insignificant reasons. This can also develop into an anxiety disorder. Yet another cause may be due to certain environmental experiences and situations that the child has undergone. It is also likely that the child develops an anxiety disorder because of a combination of all these factors.

The signs of whether a child has this mental illness or not, depends on the type of anxiety disorder he or she has. Let us look at some of the anxiety disorders that can be found in children and the symptoms that occur with it.

Types of Anxiety Disorders

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Children with generalized anxiety disorder have fears and tensions that are not specific to anything in particular. These children are tensed about everything in their life, including going to school, taking part in sports or cultural events, giving exams, etc and most often these fears are baseless. Children who have this disorder are likely to complain of frequent abdominal cramps, especially when they have to face the cause of their worries, for instance attending school or not attending or just about anything and everything.

Phobias
Having phobias is a very common type of anxiety disorder in children. They may have an extreme fear of certain ordinary things and situations like water, storms, animals, heights, etc. They may also have a phobia of facing social situations due to some old experience at a public place. The main symptom of this disorder is that children try to make excuses in order to escape from the situations and things that arouse fear and tension in them.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Children with obsessive compulsive disorder are said to have repetitive thoughts and patterns of behavior that are difficult to control. They are obsessed with a particular action and keep on doing the same thing, even though they know that it is futile. For instance, a child with this anxiety disorder would constantly keep on checking whether he has finished his work, even if he knows that he has done it.

Separation Anxiety Disorder
When children are fearful of staying away from their parents, even for a short period of time e.g. to attend school, they are said to have a separation anxiety disorder. Such children always feel the need to be with their parents and have a constant fear of losing them.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Children who have gone through a stressful and traumatic situation can develop a post-traumatic stress disorder. For instance, children can be severely affected if they have been part of a painful event like a disaster or been a victim of child abuse. Children with this disorder are often not able to forget traumatizing events and think about it so much so that it disrupts their routine activities.

Treatment for Anxiety Disorders in Children

If your child is showing signs of any of these anxiety disorders, it is essential that you consult a child psychologist for immediate treatment because if not treated at the correct time, there are high chances that the child carries this disorder into his or her adulthood.

The treatment measure that is commonly given to children with anxiety disorders is cognitive - behavioral therapy. Here, the specialist tries to understand the cause of the child's fears and teach him or her skills to overcome fearful thoughts and behavior. Many times, this is combined with the medicines that help in controlling physical symptoms. Parents are also included in the therapy, wherein they would be given training on how to deal with the child at home.

Anxiety disorders in children are surely a matter of concern for parents. However, understanding and care, along with adequate medical treatment can help in making your children healthy and fearless individuals.