Anxiety Disorders in Children
By Dr M C (Ian) Opperman
Today’s world poses exceptionally high challenges for children of all ages, resulting in a huge increase in Anxiety Disorders amongst children. Anxiety Disorders could take different forms, including:
- Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD):
If your child has GAD, they will be excessively worried about a variety of issues including school grades, family relationships, sports performance, relationships with peers, etc. Often children with GAD are very unrelenting and have very high expectations of themselves; constantly striving for perfection. They may seek approval and reassurances form others, including teacher, parents, and their peer group.
- Panic Disorder:
Panic disorder is diagnosed where children or adults suffer two or more panic or anxiety attacks – which means that the attacks come suddenly and for no reason – with the child or adult then fearing the arrival of another attack, feeling out of control, or as though they are going crazy. Panic attacks are extremely debilitating and the child is robbed of their self-confidence as they do not know when the next attack could occur.
Panic disorder is diagnosed in people who experience spontaneous, out of the blue, panic attacks and as a result are preoccupied by the fear of a reoccurring panic attack. The panic attacks have many physiological symptoms, including shortness of breath, heart palpitations, sweaty hands, and feeling like one is dying. Often people suspect that they are having a heart attack because the symptoms are so severe.
- Separation Anxiety Disorder:
Children could experience separation anxiety between 18 months and 13 years; it is normal for children to learn to separate gradually from their parents; so when parents leave their child in a room alone for a short period, the child will be fine, feeling reassured that the parent will return. The separation demands increase as the child attends day care when the child is then separated from his/her parent for a longer period of time.
Separation Anxiety Disorder is diagnosed when the child is older and unable to leave the parent or another family member, or battles to calm down when left with other children; this disorder is most common in children aged seven to nine, and it affects about 4% of children. Separation Anxiety Disorder is identified by an experience of excessive anxiety when away from home, or when separated from parents or care givers, feelings of misery and extreme home sickness when away from loved ones are common. Other symptoms could be school refusal, going to camp, sleep-overs, and a demand for a care giver or parent to stay with them at bed time. These children commonly worry about bad things happening or going to happen to their parents or care givers while they are apart, like a parent dying for example.
- Social Anxiety Disorder:
Social Anxiety Disorder is also known as social phobia, is characterised by intense fear of social performance situations, in activities called upon in class or starting a conversation with a peer. Symptoms can be so extreme that they can disrupt the child’s daily life; the typical onset is at about 13 years of age, roughly when the child enters high school. They might recognise that their fear is excessive and unreasonable, but they feel powerless against their anxiety and fear that they will embarrass or humiliate themselves.
- Specific Phobias:
Specific Phobia is an intense, irrational fear of a specific object, such as a dog, needles, vomiting, or a situation such as flying. Common childhood phobias include water, blood, heights, dogs, animals, storms, and medical procedures. Children will avoid situations or things that they fear, or alternatively endure these situations with server feelings of anxiety, which may result in crying, tantrums, clinging, and psychosomatic symptoms like headaches and stomach aches. Often these children will not recognise that this fear is unreasonable to unrealistic.
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD):
OCD is characterised by two factors; firstly, unwanted and intrusive thoughts (obsessions), secondly, feeling compelled to complete routines (compulsions) to ease the anxiety. Most children are diagnose around age 10, although the disorder is known to affect children as young as 3 years of age. Boys are likely to develop OCD before puberty, while girls develop OCD during adolescence. OCD manifests in many different ways and not every person has the same symptoms. Untreated OCD can be detrimental to life, therefore getting proper treatment is essential to gaining relief.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):
PTSD is the result of a child having experienced or exposure to a traumatic event, including armed robberies, carjacking, etc. PTSD is characterised by exposure to an actual or threatened death or injury, or sexual violence, and suffering with intrusive symptoms after the event, including distressing memories and dreams, flashback episodes, prolonged psychological distress, and physiological reactions like stomach aches or other complaints.
These children will often also avoid stimuli associated with the trauma, like refusing to sleep in their own rooms after a home invasion. There might also be an alteration to their mood including:
- negative beliefs about themselves, for instance “no one can be trusted”
- persistent negative emotional state,
- diminished interest in significant activities,
- feeling detached or estranged from others, and
- an inability to perceive positive emotions like happiness.
They might also become over aroused and reactive which include outbursts, reckless and self-destructive behaviour, hyper vigilance, exaggerated startle response, concentration problems, and sleep disturbances.
Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
All the above mentioned anxiety disorders can be treated with success. Parents can become aware if a child feels overly stressed and can assist the child to create more realistic expectations of themselves and put the child at ease. Psychologists can help with innovative psychological techniques, including Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Brain Working Recursive Therapy (BWRT), and Emotion Freedom Technique (EFT Tapping). Please visit our website at www.ianopperman.com for more information regarding the relevant therapeutic techniques.
Please contact our practice at admin@ianopperman.com or on 011 615 2020 / 011 453 6161 for further information or assistance with your child.
Ref: Anxiety and Depression Association of America.