Following from my previous post on having a child with anxiety, I just wanted to talk briefly about some of the different types of child anxiety disorder and what to look out for.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Where your child may display excessive signs of worry over everyday issues.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Your child will display repetitive behaviour which aims at reducing their anxiety such as washing their hands constantly to alleviate their fear of germs.
- Acute Stress Disorder: This is common in children who have been exposed to a very traumatic event such as a near death experience or has witnessed a death.
- Panic Disorder: Your child will have severe and recurring panic attacks which may be brought on by new environments etc. When they are not having a panic attack they are constantly worried about when they will have another one.
- Social Phobia: This is where your child is afraid that someone will judge them negatively in a public situation. The most common of these is public speaking but your child will feel anxious in any social situation.
There are other types of child anxiety disorder but these are the most common.
Does Your Child have an Anxiety Disorder?
It is sometimes difficult to diagnose a child anxiety disorder but there are a few things you should look out for if you suspect something is wrong.
Does your child frequently complain of:
- Headaches, stomach cramps nausea, frequent vomiting and diarrhea
- Bite nails, pull their hair out or cut themselves
- Doesn’t want to go out with friends or to new places
- Have wild mood swings
- Won’t go to school or is having difficulty at school
These are just some of the sypmtoms of child anxiety disorder and if you see these or any other unusual behaviour it is best to get it checked out by a professional.
If a child with anxiety can be diagnosed and treated early, they are at a lot less risk of developing far more serious degrees of anxiety when they reach adulthood.
For more information and help for child anxiety disorder please CLICK HERE
Have a Great Day
Jackie Stenhouse
(Mum of 3 Wonderful Kids)
Child Anxiety Disorder | CreativeWomenOnline…
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog
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Hi Jackie,
Thank you for the clear description of what to look for in a child who may be suffering from child anxiety disorder.
We always try to do the best by our children. Helping them through child anxiety disorder is a worthwhile thing to do.
Hi Jackie,
Thanks for the great article on Child Anxiety Disorders.
Often these symptoms are misunderstood as a child behaving badly.
I often wonder if its linked to our modified food sources.
Where plant genetics are modified, chemically treated and harvested early for mass production food systems.
Also a lot of these symptoms can be recognized in Adults.
Hi Cade,
You bring up a very interesting point. As the saying goes ‘we are what we eat’. I would say our food plays a huge part in behaviour.
Thanks
Jackie
Hi Jackie
Many children have these symptons but are regarded as problem children. Having this information available can help a parent to decide if it’s something that needs a professional.
Thanks
Tania
Great article!! Too often these symptoms go unnoticed in children.
Your article highlights the few things we can look out for to help our children.
Thanks,
Patryc
Hi Jackie! Thanks for this very informative article. I agree, there are some childhood anxieties that we sometimes think that our children is only behaving badly. However, sometimes we need to consider the frequency of such behavior and should be careful enough in dealing with them.
Tom Lansing´s last [type] ..Childhood Separation Anxiety
Thanks for your input Tom. There is a very fine line between children who are just misbehaving and children who have a genuine child anxiety disorder and it is often hard for us to tell them apart. This is where expert advice is crucial to help your child through a bad patch.