Symptoms and most importantly, disorders due to anxiety are seemingly becoming a significant health problem in most of the developed countries and states across the globe. Research and a close scrutiny into this health problem reveal that around 25% of adults experience some kind of an anxiety disorder during their life, most probably in the childhood. Though the relative frequency of childhood anxiety remains unknown, it is also witnessed that these health concerns are under-diagnosed and under reported.
Anxiety disorders is quite common in kids, however, often the symptoms and disorders are ignored, misjudged or overlooked. Despite the high tech world, modern health care facilities and state of the art medical care equipment, often children suffering with childhood anxiety are left in untreatable conditions.
What is Childhood Anxiety?
It is a form of disorder or can even be regarded as a health concern where kids go through varied feelings for long periods of time. The result is quite frightening at times as childhood anxietycan affect an individual’s life to a major extent. Children typically experience anxiety issues, intense fear, worrying Behavior or even uneasiness. Kids going through such experiences are required to be treated immediately as it may lead to disorders and serious concerns like –
- Inability to finish school
- Repeated absenteeism in School
- impaired Peer relations
- Extremely low self-esteem
- Sudden habits of alcohol or drug usage
- increased use of alcohol and other drugs
- health Problems in adulthood
- Inability to adjust to varied situations at work and home
- Anxiety disorder in adulthood
Different Childhood Anxiety Disorders
Childhood anxiety is one health condition that should never be ignored. Though there are many a time when parents do not realize the serious need to get the child treated until an alarm is raised. This may be due to varied reasons like inability to understand the situation, ignorant attitude, and a viewpoint that says that things might change in future and it is not a serious condition.
Generalized Childhood Anxiety Disorder
Whether it is an adult who is still suffering with childhood anxiety orchildren and adolescents who are beginning to experience this health hazard, there are varied means by which one can understand the issue.
- Unrealistic worries and apprehension about the daily regime and everyday life activities
- Worriedness about typical aspects like the academic performance, reaching a place on time, activities of both games and sports to name a few
- Childhood anxiety has a strong impact on an individual’s life. It takes one through the feeling of being self-conscious, hypertensive, confused and develops a strong need for being reassured.
- Health wise, the sufferers may also complain a pinch in the stomach, aches and other discomforts, which of course are not the reason of any physical cause.
Separation Childhood Anxiety Disorder
This disorder is often seen in children who find it difficult to lead a few hours in the absence of their parents. This disorder is seen in pre-school children and regarded as a customary process of emotional development.
- These kids go through a difficulty to leave their parents even when they need to attend a school
- Staying away from parents or a guardian when at a school or college camp, night stay at a friend’s house, or maybe even alone is not their cup of tea
- The children with childhood anxiety ‘cling’ on to their parents and generally cannot fall asleep without them.
- This kind of a health disorder accompanies with itself a series of issues like the child getting into depression, withdrawal, sadness, or an unknown fear that a family member might die any moment.
Phobias and Childhood Anxiety
This disorder impulses unrealistic phobia of specific objects or situations specifically animals, water, closed space, storms, fire etc. This can be identified when one finds their kids trying to void certain elements they fear from their daily life.
Panic Attacks
Panic attacks are sudden and repetitive attacks without any ostensible reason. They are accompanied by varied periodic feelings like-
- Pounding heartbeat
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Feeling of imminent death
- Dread of another panic attack
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
The OCD disorder (Obsessive-compulsive disorder) is a series of contemplations which may be repetitive and behavioral pattern of trapped thoughts. This can be easily identified amongst two out of every hundred adolescents with compulsive behaviors seen in children and further in their adulthood.
- Repeated hand wash
- Object counting
- Arranging or rearranging of objects about two in every 100 adolescents experience obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
This is extensively seen in children who feel the stress after any particular event. However, this is quite a sensitive issue where the kids experience a post-traumatic stress and its relative effects like –
- Physical or sexual abuse
- being a victim of violence
- After effects of witnessing violence
Post experiencing a disaster like hurricane, floods, snowfall or even bombing
