According to an editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine (Dec, 2008), anxiety disorders affect up to one in five U.S. children. According to the same study, many of those children not treated, due to the condition not being recognized for what it is. Delay in diagnosis and treatment has been shown to lead to depression, substance abuse and sub-standard academic performance throughout childhood and well into adulthood.

The symptoms of anxiety attacks can be seen in young children. Parents may tend to overlook the probable signs of anxiety attacks and children, which is definitely a big reason why kids with anxiety may be left untreated for many years. Anxiety during the pre-pubertal stage can be very harmful, since this stage is very critical for the development of your child.

Some Symptoms of Childhood Anxiety

• Trouble sleeping, or nightmares
• Extreme worries about sleeping away from home
• Tantrums or panic when separated from parents
• Needing lots of reassurance
• Worry about things before they happen
• Low self esteem and a lack of self-confidence

Also note if your child cries very often. Does she speak as fluently as she always did? Has she been urinating very frequently or sometimes wetting her bed? These can be crucial signs that your child is suffering needlessly from anxiety.

Some Common Children’s Anxieties

• Separation anxiety
• Specific Phobias – fear of the dark, thunder, lightning, dogs, insects, needles, etc.
• Social Anxieties such a fear of meeting or talking to people, avoiding social situations, meeting new people

Recent Research Into Anxiety In Children

A recent study (June, 2009) designed to prevent anxiety disorders in the children of anxious parents found that a family-based program reduced symptoms and the risk of developing an anxiety disorder among these children. The study was done by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

The study suggests that as few as eight weekly family sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy go a long way to prevent or minimize the psychological damage of childhood anxiety. Results of the study appear in the June issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

“If psychiatrists or family doctors diagnose anxiety in adult patients, it’s now clearly a good idea that they ask about the patients’ children and, if appropriate, refer them for evaluation,” says senior investigator Golda Ginsburg, Ph. D., a child psychologist at Hopkins Children’s and associate professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “Right now, most doctors don’t think about this, let alone broach the subject.”

Ginsburg says the research shows that the children of parents diagnosed with an anxiety disorder are up to seven times more likely to develop an anxiety disorder themselves, and up to 65 percent of children living with an anxious parent meet criteria for an anxiety disorder.

The Hopkins team studied 40 children between 7 and 12 not diagnosed with anxiety themselves but who had one or both parents diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Half of the children and their families were enrolled in an eight-week cognitive behavioral therapy, while the other half were put on a waiting list and received no therapy at the time of the study, but were offered therapy a year later.

Within a year, 30 percent of the children in the no-intervention group had developed an anxiety disorder, compared to none of the children who participated in the family-based therapy. Parents along with researchers who evaluated the children and their parents independently reported a 40-percent drop in anxiety symptoms in the year following the prevention program. There was no reduction of anxiety symptoms among children on the waiting list.

The parental behaviors modified with treatment included overprotection, excessive criticism and excessive expression of fear and anxiety in front of the children. The program targeted such childhood risk factors as avoiding anxiety-provoking situations and anxious thoughts.

Treating Anxiety in Children

Severe anxiety problems in children are treatable. Early treatment helps prevent future difficulties, such as loss of friendships, failure to reach social and academic potential, depression and feelings of low self-esteem. Treatments may include a combination of: psychotherapy, family therapy, medications, behavioral treatments, and consultation at school.

If anxiety interferes with your child’s usual activities, you should consider seeking an evaluation from a qualified mental health professional or a child and adolescent psychiatrist.

Summary

If you are a parent suffering from Anxiety or Panic, make sure that your child is not being effected. Discuss your child’s behavior with your physician. Taking care of yourself can do more to help your child than you may think!

If you notice the symptoms of anxiety in your child, don’t hesitate to ask her what’s going on. If you are not sure, have your child evaluated. Early treatment can prevent much distress later on.

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This website cannot, and should not, stand alone as the sole medical or psychological intervention for any disorder. Any individual with a medical or psychological problem should first consult a qualified health care provider for diagnosis and professional advice. This website is intended only to provide general information and is not intended as an exhaustive source of information for the topics discussed. This website and these articles do not replace your relationship with any health care professional you are consulting with or consult with in the future.

Occasional anxiety is a normal element of our day to day life, and in fact some anxiety can help us stay focused, get into action, and get us motivated. It’s when there is a constant anxiety, or an overwhelming anxiety, if anxiety interferes with your everyday life, then you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.

There is no one set of symptoms for anxiety disorders. One person may have intense panic attacks for no apparent reason, while another panics only in the presence of a snake. Another may have a fear of flying, or thoughts that are uncontrollable and overwhelming. Still others may have a constant worry about nothing specific, or everything in general.

The one consistent symptom of all anxiety disorders is an irrational, persistent feeling of worry in situations where most people would not be worried at all.

Some other common symptoms of anxiety are:

• Irritability
• Restlessness
• Constantly watching for danger
• Feeling tense, jumpy
• Always anticipating the worst that can happen
• Having trouble concentrating
• Feelings of dread
• Feelings of apprehension

Anxiety can produce physical symptoms as well:

• Pounding heart
• Tremors
• Tense muscles
• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Sweating
• Pounding heart
• Upset stomach
• Dizziness
• Shortness of breath

The Six Types of Anxiety Disorders

There are six types of anxiety disorders. I’ve listed them here, with their most common symptoms.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Common symptoms consist of constant concern that distracts you from normal day-to-day activities, thinking that something bad is going to happen. Physical manifestations include insomnia, upset stomach, constantly tired and restlessness. People with GAD feel anxious most of the time, and may be called a “worrywart” by people who know them.

Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

OCD symptoms include uncontrollable repetitive behaviors and thoughts. People with OCD obsess about things like whether they turned off the stove, or they may have behaviors such as constantly washing their hands.

Panic Disorder

Panic disorders are expressed by repeated and unexpected panic attacks, and also a fear of experiencing another panic attack. People who have this type of disorder may also have agoraphobia (afraid of being in places where it’s hard to escape). People with agoraphobia generally avoid public places.

Phobias

A phobia is an exaggerated or unrealistic fear of specific objects, activities or situations, one’s that really are low or no danger at all. Some common phobias include fear of flying, heights, spiders and snakes.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Traumatic or life-threatening experiences can cause PTSD. The symptoms include nightmares or flashbacks of the event, being super vigilant, withdrawing from others, being easily startled, and avoiding situations that remind you of that event.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Having a fear of humiliation, in public can lead to a social phobia, or social anxiety disorder. Having a fear of being thought of negatively by others is also a symptom of this disorder. You could think of this as extreme shyness. Performance anxiety, or stage fright, is a common type of social phobia.

Anxiety Disorders in Children

Children may have additional symptoms leading to anxiety disorder. These include:

Excessive worry about school grades or school sports activities
Worry about being on time
Concerns about catastrophic events such as nuclear war
Anxiety about fitting in with classmates and friends
Have perfectionist tendencies
Lack confidence
Need constant approval
Need excess reassurance about their performance

Your Doctors’ Criteria for Anxiety Disorder Diagnosis

Listed below is the criteria from the DSM-IV TR that doctors use to diagnose anxiety disorders.

A. Excessive anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectation), occurring more days than not for a period of at least 6 months, about a number of events or activities (such as work or school performance).
B. The person finds it difficult to control the worry.
C. The anxiety and worry are associated with three (or more) of the following six symptoms (with at least some symptoms present for more days than not for the past 6 months). Note: Only one item is required in children.
1. restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge
2. being easily fatigued
3. difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
4. irritability
5. muscle tension
6. sleep disturbances (difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless unsatisfying sleep)
D. The focus of the anxiety and worry is not confined to features of an Axis I disorder, e.g., the anxiety or worry is not about having a Panic Attack (as in Panic Disorder), being embarrassed in public (as in Social Phobia), being contaminated (as in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), gaining weight (as in Anorexia Nervosa), having multiple physical complaints (as in Somatization Disorder), or having a serious illness (as in Hypochondriasis), and the anxiety and worry do not occur exclusively during Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
E. The anxiety, worry, or physical symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
F. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hyperthyroidism) and does not occur exclusively during a Mood Disorder, a Psychotic Disorder, or a Pervasive Developmental Disorder.

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This article is intended only to provide general information and is not intended as an exhaustive source of information. This website and this article do not replace your relationship with any health care professional you are consulting with or consult with in the future.

Timeline therapy is a simple yet powerful visualization process that can be used to obtain fast relief from anxiety producing events. This method is most effective if there is a specific event in the future that you have anxiety about. It can also be used effectively for events that have occurred in the pastalthough I do not describe that here.

In this article I outline the technique you can use for specific future events that are causing you anxiety.

Timeline therapy uses the power of your unconscious thinking, along with conscious visualization, to help you overcome anxiety that you may have about past and future events.

Have you ever meditated before? This will be different.

Have you ever used hypnosis before? This will be different.

Have you ever done creative visualization before? This will be different.

Have you ever daydreamed before? This will be different.

Timeline therapy could best be described as a cross between hypnosis and neuro linguistic programming techniques (NLP).

This process requires that you be in a safe comfortable and relaxing place. It takes about 10 minutes. Only do this process when you can turn all of your attention inward.

Are you ready? Here we go. Do this after you’ve completely read these instructions.

First, you will close your eyes. Close your eyes, and think of the event which you have anxiety about. What is the specific day, and time, that the event is going to occur? If you’re not sure of the time just pick a reasonable time.

Now, with your eyes closed, imagine that you can float out of your body, and directly up above your body, float right up into the air.

Now, float out into your future, just imagine you can float into your future, right above the day and the time of the specific event that your anxious about. Just looked down and notice the event.

Now, float further into your future, to 15 minutes after the event has successfully concluded.

Turn so that you’re facing the event, successfully concluded.

Now, where is the anxiety?

It’s gone isn’t it?

Float back to now, and back down into your body, and take a deep breath, let it out, open your eyes and come back into the room.

Now that you’ve read this complete process, and even seeing how it ends, regardless of whether you’re skeptical or not, I invite you to do the process.

If you’re not sure about where your future is, then before you start this exercise, think about something that you know you’re going to do in the future. Like take a vacation or go to a party, or perhaps an appointment you have next week.

Now thinking about that future event, from what direction relative to your body does that future event come from?

Did that help? Remember, you are using your unconscious conception of time. So we are most interested in allowing this sense of the direction of your future to arise, naturally, from your unconscious.

If you are not used to working with, or communicating directly with your unconscious mind, then this may take a little practice. You can practice by relaxing, closing your eyes, and just thinking about a future pleasant event that you know you are going to be doing.

You can practice doing this with events at different time intervals, like one day, one week, one month, three or four months, you get the idea.

I have found that doing this just one time with something I’m anxious about can help to relieve the anxiety. This gives great relief, very quickly, to those who are able to use their imagination in the way I have outlined here. I know you can do all the things I’ve described here today.

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