Childhood Anxiety Disorder

Much the same as adults children can experience issues with anxiety. A certain amount of anxiety in children will not cause problems, however if the anxiety becomes intense and recurring they can quite easily disable the child. Increased levels of anxiety can affect the daily life of the child.

Here are some common causes of childhood anxiety disorder:

Change in Lifestyle - children can be dramatically affected by a families relocation. Moving away from their school and neighbourhood friends can make them very stressed and if the child cannot cope with stress it can lead to bouts of anxiety.

Separation anxiety - this is an excessive fear of being away from someone the child is comfortable being with.

School Phobia - the reason behind this phobia is not completely understood, what happens is the child will increasingly come up with excuses as to why they cannot go to school, complaining of toothaches, headaches, stomach aches anything to keep them away. School phobia is often linked to separation anxiety.

Relationship Problems - Family problems can play a large part in a child's anxiety issues. If a child experiences the loss of a family member this can trigger anxiety attacks. As can family conflicts, divorce or fighting in the family can be traumatic for a child.

Performance Anxiety - this can be a common problem for children who find themselves at the front of the class if they are not very good at their lessons or on the sports field if they are no good at sports.

General Anxiety Disorder - this is an uncontrollable fear of almost everything. Symptoms of GAD in children are the same as they are in adults.

Here are some of the possible symptoms that your child may display if they are suffering from a childhood anxiety disorder:

Bed wetting
Nightmares
Tantrums
Feeling of panic and fear
Fear of making mistakes
Fear of embarrassment
Not wanting to go out at all
Lack of confidence

Looking at the above list you have to agree that with some children it is very difficult to actually determine if a child has an anxiety problem. Due to the fact that the symptoms are similar to other physical, behavioural and psychological conditions it is very important if you do think your child may have a problem to take them to a doctor.

Doctors will usually prescribe medication to help relieve your child's anxiety issues. You may however wish to try alternative treatments such as:

Play Therapy - this is the child version of exposure therapy and is an effective treatment for anxiety in children.

Herbal Medicines - these can be an effective means for treating childhood anxiety disorder. Some of the most common herbs are: valerian, st. johns wart, and scullcap.

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