Children anxiety disorder, while not uncommon, can be difficult for parents to recognize.  Many instances of child anxiety disorder are easily mistaken for normal childhood fears and worries.  Almost all children, just as adults, experience fear, anxiousness and worry from time to time.  Feelings of anxiety in stressful situations are part of our natural fight-or-flight mechanism and are perfectly normal.  When feelings of anxiety become overwhelming and cause emotional and physical distress which affects the ability to function, or lasts for an extended period of time, this is not considered normal and should be addressed.  Child anxiety disorder is in many cases caused by the same types of issues which cause adult anxiety disorders – these include genetics, biochemical anomalies, and post-traumatic stress, as well as other environmental triggers.  Symptoms also resemble those of adults; treatment for child anxiety disorder also parallels that of adults, although in many cases pediatricians are reluctant to prescribe some of the medications commonly used to treat adult anxiety.  If you are concerned that your child may be suffering from an anxiety disorder, you should certainly express your concerns to your pediatrician.  The sooner anxiety orders are diagnosed and treated, the less likely they are to recur.

What are the emotional signs of child anxiety disorder? Some of the outward signs of anxiety disorder include excessive nervousness and anxiousness, restlessness, irritability, and inability to concentrate.  Anxiety disorder can affect a child’s decision-making ability, performance in school, social interactions with peers, and their perception of their environment.

What are the physiological symptoms of child anxiety disorder? Children suffering from anxiety may exhiit such outward symptoms as nauseam vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pains.  They may experience headaches, high blood pressure, an elevated heart rate, and shortness of breath or dizziness.  While these symptoms may certainly be attributed to other causes, they also occur with anxiety.

How is child anxiety disorder diagnosed? Childhood anxiety disorders can easily be overlooked, because children are not always able to articulate how they are feeling.  If a child exhibits any of these symptoms for more than a week or two, or they are overwhelmingly distressing to the child, then medical advice should be sought as soon as possible.

What causes child anxiety disorder? There are a number of physiological and environmental issues that may be responsible for triggering an anxiety disorder.  Many cases of anxiety disorder, both in children and adults, are genetically linked.  Other cases are due to physiological differences in brain anatomy, and in some cases environmental stressors are to blame.

How is anxiety disorder in children treated? Treatment for anxiety disorder for children is similar to that for adults.  While not all doctors agree that children should be given anti-anxiety drugs, these are sometimes used in combination with talk therapy.  Child anxiety disorder is also often treated by teaching the child to recognize the physiological warning signs.