Most people would have a hard time believing that children can suffer from anxiety? I mean what do children have to be anxious about? And isn't that a condition that only adults have? The truth is that both children and teenagers suffer form anxiety disorder.
Children and adolescents have a hard time coping with numerous situations in their lives, such as starting a new school, losing a parent, even exams and this can trigger an anxiety attack.
They are hard on themselves when they fail in any endeavour and constantly seek approval from their families and their peers.
It is becoming increasingly important that children have the skills to cope with these stresses in life and difficult emotions as they grow into adults.
If this condition is left untreated children will have a significant decrease in performance at school, their social skills will suffer and they are more susceptible to indulge in substance abuse.
There are certain stages when different types of anxiety disorders will affect a child while they are growing up.
• Separation Anxiety can affect children from 6 to 9 years old.
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder can affect children in from their middle years till they are adolescents.
• Panic Disorder and Depression can start to occur in adolescents.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is another disorder that can affect children from the early age of 2 or 3 years old.
This is where an individual will have the compulsion to repeat certain actions to reduce stress as well as unwanted, constant thoughts about a particular thing.
You might be familiar with behavioural traits such as locking doors, washing hands continuously and the unexplainable feeling of terror.
One question that most concerned parents ask is, 'Did I give this anxiety to my child?' Research has shown that anxiety can be passed down via the genes but there are also many other ways that they could cultivate those fears.
Some children have a more anxious temperate which can make them vulnerable to those feelings.
Other child may develop high anxiety levels after experiencing something traumatic in their lives.
It's a little harder to be aware if your child is suffering from this disorder as they might find it harder to verbalize their feelings to you.
Children will more likely believe that their fears and terrors are something very real and something to be concerned about and so their frustration might be masked behind temper tantrums, clinginess and crying.
Children and adolescents have a hard time coping with numerous situations in their lives, such as starting a new school, losing a parent, even exams and this can trigger an anxiety attack.
They are hard on themselves when they fail in any endeavour and constantly seek approval from their families and their peers.
It is becoming increasingly important that children have the skills to cope with these stresses in life and difficult emotions as they grow into adults.
If this condition is left untreated children will have a significant decrease in performance at school, their social skills will suffer and they are more susceptible to indulge in substance abuse.
There are certain stages when different types of anxiety disorders will affect a child while they are growing up.
• Separation Anxiety can affect children from 6 to 9 years old.
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder can affect children in from their middle years till they are adolescents.
• Panic Disorder and Depression can start to occur in adolescents.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is another disorder that can affect children from the early age of 2 or 3 years old.
This is where an individual will have the compulsion to repeat certain actions to reduce stress as well as unwanted, constant thoughts about a particular thing.
You might be familiar with behavioural traits such as locking doors, washing hands continuously and the unexplainable feeling of terror.
One question that most concerned parents ask is, 'Did I give this anxiety to my child?' Research has shown that anxiety can be passed down via the genes but there are also many other ways that they could cultivate those fears.
Some children have a more anxious temperate which can make them vulnerable to those feelings.
Other child may develop high anxiety levels after experiencing something traumatic in their lives.
It's a little harder to be aware if your child is suffering from this disorder as they might find it harder to verbalize their feelings to you.
Children will more likely believe that their fears and terrors are something very real and something to be concerned about and so their frustration might be masked behind temper tantrums, clinginess and crying.
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