Anxiety that affects children is an under reported and under diagnosed disorder, according to KeepKidsHealthy.com. They explain that anxiety is a subjective sense of worry, apprehension, fear and distress. Several types of anxiety disorders with specific symptom variations can lead to diagnosis. The specific anxiety disorder is diagnosed based on the pattern and quality of symptoms the child exhibits.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) refers to excessive worrying, apprehensiveness and anxiousness that occurs most days within a period of six months or more. A child will struggle to control the anxious feelings. Symptoms of anxiousness include restlessness, feeling on edge, getting tired easily, trouble concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, insomnia or restless sleep. The Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA) indicates that children often develop anxiety over grades, performance in sports, family issues or punctuality.
Panic Disorder
Anxiety can be seen in the form of panic, or panic disorder. Recurrent panic attacks that are accompanied by the fear of having more unexpected panic attacks leads to the diagnoses of panic disorder. KeepKidsHealthy.com defines a panic attack as a sudden episode of intense fear or discomfort paired with a minimum of four out of 13 required psychological symptoms. These 13 symptoms include an increased heart rate, shortness of breath or smothering, sweating, trembling, choking sensation, chest discomfort or pain, nausea, dizziness, lightheadedness, faintness, feeling detached from oneself, fear of losing control or going crazy, fear of death, tingling sensations and chills or hot flashes.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is represented by persistent thoughts, ideas or urges that lead to intense uncontrollable repetitive behaviors or mental acts. The thoughts and behaviors are often unreasonable and excessive. The behaviors and thoughts may require a large amount of time to carry out and may lead to repetitive behavior like washing hands, locking windows and doors, counting rituals and requesting reassurance.
Separation Anxiety
The ADAA suggests that separation anxiety is likely to occur in children between the ages of 18 months and 3 years. According to the ADAA children with separation anxiety are likely to avoid going places alone, refuse to go to school or other organized activities, hesitate to sleep away from home, shadow parents or caregivers, call for caregivers to visit them during the night and wake from nightmares about being separated from loved ones.
