Children and Anxiety

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

In contrast with specific phobias, in this disorder are excessive worry and fear in different situations of everyday life. That is, because the fear is not focused on a particular object or moment. Children with this disorder keep changing over the weeks, the focus of concern. The symptomatology in this type lists chronic worry too difficult to control, fatigue, frequent complaints, bad mood and tantrums in situations of change.

Panic Disorder

The physical and cognitive symptoms are similar to those occurring in adults, may occur unexpectedly and spontaneously but in general are associated with other diagnoses, especially separation anxiety, school phobia and agoraphobia.

Separation Anxiety Disorder

This disorder is characterized by excessive anxiety, inappropriate for the child’s developmental level, relative to their separation from home or people with whom the child is connected. Symptoms are excessive worry in relation to health or safety, fear of being alone, refusal to go to school, complaints when separation is anticipated, panic attacks against separation, insistence on sleeping with parents. This disorder is closely linked to panic disorder. Clinical studies have determined that half of the children with this disorder also get another type of anxiety disorder and one third of them are also under depression, this condition increases the risk of panic-anxiety disorder and agoraphobia in childhood or adulthood.

Social Phobia

The criteria for diagnosing this disorder is: Marked and persistent fear of one or more aspects of social performance, intense fear of criticism and public humiliation, fear of being with people other than friends or relatives, exposure to social situations which always create anxiety, biasing in some cases, a panic attack. In children, anxiety is expressed in the form of crying, opposition, tantrums and a pressing need to avoid the situation. Unlike adults, children do not have to recognize the irrational fear. Children with social phobia often reported, varying degrees of depression, as well as little confidence in their abilities and a strong tendency to be stubborn.

Specific Phobia

Is an exaggerated and irrational fear of an object or situation, like flying, contact with animals, heights, confined spaces,insects, etc. It is one of the most common phobias. In children the most common specific phobias are: to animals, bedtime, school, and darkness.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessions are intrusive thoughts that erupt and plague the sufferer. Are difficult to control and are accompanied by a feeling of unease and anxiety that the child can not discard. Is the need to implement an action or have a thought in order to relieve anxiety or to prevent something bad from happening. The obsessions and compulsions impair social life and school. The most common signs of obsessive compulsive disorder in children include: ritualized hand washing, need for repetition, checking and counting, rituals at bedtime. The age of onset is around age 8. Most of the adults with this disorder have been referred to since childhood, without anyone noticing that they were experiencing symptoms that constitute a disease.

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