Childhood anxiety symptoms and effects
Childhood anxiety symptoms : In the normal life of a child there may be a series of circumstances that cause him anguish without knowing how to express it clearly and concisely, then the so dreaded anxiety appears. In childhood, an anxious state can be a defense mechanism to face problems that the child does not know how to solve. The important thing is to prevent this disorder from taking over your mood since, by being recognized in time, it is possible to avoid its evolution and worsening.
There are many psychological and scientific studies carried out on childhood anxiety, its causes, its treatments, its symptoms, its consequences, etc. The truth is that each child feels and lives differently and the problem has to be addressed according to the specific case.
Anxious symptoms in a child
It is of the utmost importance to observe every detail of your child’s behavior to detect if it may be a beginning of anxiety. To do this, we expose below the most common aspects:
- Affective disorder: it usually occurs in cases of feeling of inferiority, they become more introverted and shy people, with more shame, they feel intruders anywhere and assertiveness can not dominate it. Normally, this problem is observed to a greater extent at school, where the child is among his peers and competitiveness is at its peak.
- Intellectual disorder: low school performance, lack of attention and concentration, lack of memory, it is difficult to study and do homework, does not participate in group class activities and stands out more than for excellence, for deficiency.
- Motor disorder: this is when the child begins to sleepwalk at night, urinates in bed, stutters, sucks his thumb.
- Somatic disorder: it takes feelings to a physical plane and insomnia, enuresis, bronchial asthma, anorexia, vomiting, headaches, etc. appear.
The child manifests anxiety in a thousand different ways and none is the same as another.
Causes of childhood anxiety
The most common types of anxiety in children are the following
- Social phobia: it occurs at the moment when the child is afraid of all the other people around him in terms of being judged negatively and thinking that it is useless. This fact provokes a paralysis and mental block in the child who does not know how to deal with some problematic situations for him. Hence, he begins to isolate himself, to encourage shyness, not to relate to unfamiliar people and has contact exclusively with the closest and most familiar people.
- School phobia: one of the strongest points that causes the appearance of anxiety. At school there are a series of stressful and traumatic situations for the child that he does not know how to solve and neither to express, therefore, they feel bad to go to school and absences and school failures begin to be very common. Although, in this case, antisocial characteristics are not usually present as in the previous case.
- Family phobia: the separation or divorce of the parents can be the perfect trigger to exploit and surface unusual nerves and behaviors in the child as a way to attract attention or to manifest their madness. A separation produces a great psychological division for the child and spending seasons with the mother or father subject to different rules, schedules and places confuses the mind.
However, in any case, the most convenient thing is to consult the specific case with a specialist to apply a personal treatment to the child, along with proactive therapies that help him to externalize everything that inside keeps him upset, worried and distorted.
Childhood anxiety disorder overview
The childhood anxiety disorder, looking for formulas to combat this disorder
Childhood anxiety disorder: How do I know if my child has anxiety? It’s not so easy, sometimes she appears disguised and we confuse her with other things: laziness, lack of initiative, lack of confidence, or illness. When this happens we say that “it is typical of age, he is growing up, he is jealous, he is going to hit a growth spurt, it is that he is hyperactive……”.
Children and adolescents with anxiety disorders often experience intense fear, worry, or restlessness that can last for long periods of time and significantly affect their lives. If not treated promptly, anxiety disorders can lead to:
- Repeated absences from class or an inability to finish the period of schooling.
- Deterioration in relations with peers.
- Low self-esteem.
- Alcohol or other drug abuse.
- Adjustment problems in work situations.
- Anxiety disorders in adulthood.
It is common that, as adults, we deny the possibility of depression and anxiety in the child.How is my son going to have that if he has everything! I will try to explain to you, as parents, the anxious manifestations that children may have and some simple and effective means to help them.
Symptoms of childhood anxiety
The general symptoms that children present in these cases are:
- Affective disorders: such as a marked feeling of inferiority, assertiveness is a difficult subject in them, they are usually shy.
- Intellectual disorders and school difficulties: due to attention deficit, memory, general performance.
- Motor disorders: may present stuttering, sleepwalking, thumb sucking….
- Somatic disorders: insomnia, enuresis, bronchial asthma, anorexia, headaches, vomiting, abdominalgia…
About 40 percent of children and young people between the ages of one and 16 have ever had a problem with anxiety, depression or phobia. Children with generalized anxiety disorder have recurring fears and worries that they find difficult to control. They may have concerns about almost everything or nothing, such as school, sports, being on time, or even natural catastrophes. They may be restless, irritable, tense, tired, and may have difficulty concentrating or sleeping. Children with childhood anxiety disorder are usually eager to please others and can be superstitious.
Although anxiety disorder in children is not clearly understood, there are many ways to treat it. The approach however varies greatly with each child and the underlying causes and characteristics of their particular case of anxiety disorder.
Treatment of childhood anxiety disorder
The best treatment that can be given in these cases is that of prevention, as we already mentioned in the previous section, in these anxious situations we must teach a series of coping strategies.
Other treatment routes are pharmacological depending on the studies carried out by the medical staff, there are individualized treatments, so if we know a child with a pharmacological treatment, let’s not think that this same drug can help our child.
Relaxations and exposure to the anxious situation are quite optimal. Modeling. Cognitive techniques based on rational and emotional self-instruction are very positive for these cases.
Ending the fear, anguish and suffering of children and adolescents suffering from anxiety disorders is possible. The data of a new study confirm that the combination of the antidepressant sertraline and cognitive behavioral therapy is the best therapeutic option to safely reduce the severity of the symptoms caused by these pathologies. The other good news is that both treatments, on their own, are also effective, although to a lesser extent.