Tag: Separation Anxiety

Causes of Child Anxiety Attacks

Child anxiety, just like that of adults, is a normal, healthy emotion felt as a response to certain stimuli. But when anxiety becomes recurring, irrational and intense, it may be considered as a disorder. Episodes of anxiety attacks can disable the child from performing his daily duties in school and at home. And while it is generally safe, anxiety attacks can affect how the child lives.

Since children are more fragile, they more vulnerable to such attacks and the effects of these attacks may be more severe than to adults. But what causes anxiety attacks? Here are some of the most common reasons of anxiety attacks:

School Phobia and Separation Anxiety
When a child reaches a certain age, he or she develops school phobia. The exact reason for this is still unknown, but what happens is, the child becomes excessively afraid of going to school. A child manifests this fear by creating reasons and complaining ailments such as toothaches, headache, and stomach cramps to keep him or her from going to school. School phobia is often linked to separation anxiety but the latter can manifest to situations other than in school (e.g. being with a group of people or joining other family for the weekend).

Again, the exact reason for this is unknown. Separation anxiety is excessive fear of being away from someone whom the child is comfortable being with. Tale-told signs of separation anxiety are similar to school phobia.

Stress
Stress is linked to anxiety attacks. It may be a result of heavy responsibilities at home and in school, unfinished tasks, physical and psychological abuse, a school bully, environment that is unfit for the child’s age, violence, etc.

Change in lifestyle
A child creates friends in school and in the neighborhood. These friends would make him or her feel comfortable and accepted. So when the family moves to another place or to a different school, a child loses the friend and comfort he or she has established and forces him or her to start all over again. If the child cannot cope with this stressful situation, it can lead to episodes of anxiety attack.

Indirect Reasons
In many cases, anxiety attacks just come out of the blue, or happen without any logical, clear or apparent reason. It may occur while the child is relaxed during the day and even while asleep. This may only happen only once. Perhaps, an anxiety attack is brought about by unresolved internal issues, which are not directly connected with the trigger. For example, a child who experiences a death of a loved one may panic whenever a certain, almost similar situation happens. The traumatic experience that he or she went through in the past which are not processed properly can come out, in this case through an attack.

A child may also show episodes of anxiety attacks because the problem at hand reminded him or her about family conflicts. Fighting in the family as well as divorce of parents may be traumatic to a child that when witnessing a similar situation, he or she goes into a panic.

Take note that there is no single reason (and it takes several factors) for a child to have an anxiety attack, but whatever it is, what’s important is how do deal with it properly.

Symptoms Child Anxiety Attacks

Children anxiety disorders are common, but the exact number of sufferers is unknown, most likely because the condition is often under-diagnosed, undiagnosed or unreported. While it is very treatable with good, persistent medical care, medical experts agree that anxiety problems during childhood (when misjudged and overlooked) will likely to persist as an adult psychiatric disorder. In other words, early manifestations of anxiety through anxiety attacks during childhood must be addressed as early as possible hence, reducing the chances of developing into an adult version.

Through the following symptoms, you can detect that a child is a possible candidate of a specific type of anxiety disorder or if the child is undergoing another episode of anxiety attack.

Separation anxiety is very common among children when they reach school age. They exhibit unreasoned fear and panic at being separated from their parents or their home during parents. Symptoms include crying and begging not to go to school. It is also possible that a child complains stomach aches, headaches, toothaches, and other maladies that would keep him from going to school. Alternately, a child will show a demeanor when at home or during the company of parents.

Social phobia is almost the opposite of separation anxiety. A child may choose stay home alone or keep separated from parents. Social phobia can push children to stay away from peers as they feel that they are different from other kids or that they have clothes or hair style that are apart from the interest of other kids. A child with social phobia may choose to read a book than to go to summer camp or any activity that involves mingling with others.

Performance anxiety can be closely linked to social anxiety. A child who does not play good sports may show signs of fear during physical education class. A child with poor reading skills or cannot perform simple mathematical equation may panic and become ill when called to recite for the class or solve a problem on the board.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by chronic worry or fear over almost everything without any apparent reason. Symptoms of GAD are very similar to what adults would experience. Patients with GAD may complain about stomach upset, fatigue, restlessness, and difficulty sleeping. In addition, a child may throw tantrums, may cry, have nightmares, may be keyed up and even begin to show problems in school that were not present before.

What causes anxiety to children?

There are many studies supporting that child anxiety is genetically acquired. Parents, for example, who manifest anxiety, will likely have anxious and nervous children. This condition can be learned as well. It is possible that a child develops anxiety disorder after a bad experience ridiculed by classmates, victim of bullies in school, or making a mistake in front of the class. Separation of parents, abuse, death of a loved one or any traumatic experiences can lead to anxiety disorder as well. Fear of being alone, is afraid of the dark or afraid of certain animals may be reflections of events with bad memories.

Behaviors during anxiety attacks and symptoms of anxiety disorders are similar to other psychological, physical and behavioral condition. It is important, therefore, to seek professional help to be able to rule out other reasons and provide the right treatment to the patient.

Types and Treatement of Anxiety Disorder

When most people think of beauty, what comes to mind is usually basic information that’s not particularly interesting or beneficial. But there’s a lot more to beauty than just the basics.

Anxiety disorder is an umbrella term for various specific forms of fear and anxiety including generalized anxiety disorder ( GAD ), panic disorder, phobias, obsessive – compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and separation anxiety.

Generalized anxiety disorder commonly affects older adults and is characterized by enduring anxiety that really doesn’t seem to be about any certain subject, argument or concern. The anxiouisness in this case is continuous and makes daily life difficult.

Panic disorder is characteried by brief and intense bouts of fear or apprehension. Luckily, the feelings usually crest in fewer than ten minutes but can last as long as a few hours. Sometimes the cause of these attacks is feeble identified but recurrently, it is unclear.

Linked to panic disorder is agoraphobia, the anxiety about being in a place or situation that may be difficult to stir up visible of. People who suffer from agoraphobia usually occasion to be near doors or openings at all times. In severe cases, this leads to the individual never wanting to leave his / her home for fear of not being able to leave wherever he / she is going.

Phobias put on the largest battery of anxiety disorders. If you suffer from a phobia or several phobias, you know exactly what the object of your cold sweat is. Social phobia ( otherwise known as social anxiety disorder ) is an abnormal fear of public embarrassment or humiliation which can occur, in severe cases, just when the person enters any social environment, or in specific cases such as when a presentation or speech must be made. Social anxiety much manifests specific physical symptoms, including blushing, sweating, and difficulty speaking.

Obsessive obsessive disorder ( OCD ) is mainly characterized by repetitive obsessions with certain thoughts or images and compulsions to repeatedly perform certain actions or rituals. OCD thought pattern could be compared to superstitions, where the person who is affected thinks that if he performs a certain fulfill, any sort of worry or perceived evil will be eliminated. In many cases, the compulsion is entirely inexplicable, just an urge, set off by nervousness, to complete a certain ritual.

Post – traumatic stress, as the name suggests, can result from just one traumatic experience such as combat, rape, a serious accident; or from long term ( chronic ) exposure to trauma like physical abuse or war. Common symptoms include flashbacks and depression.

Separation anxiety disorder is abnormal matter over being separated from a person or region. Although contrariety anxiety is a normal part of development in children, it becomes a disorder when it becomes towering.

There are many treatment options for the above disorders / phobias: psychotherapy focuses on increasing the individual’s sense of their own wholesome – being. Cognitive behavioral therapy ( CBT ) aims to touch at the root of the counterproductive emotions, behaviors and cognitions and to treat them whence. And pharmaceutical therapy employs various medications to relieve symptoms but is rarely used just by itself as it doesn’t treat the core problem, only its symptoms.

This information does not substitute medical advice given by a health professional.

Now you can be a confident expert on beauty. OK, maybe not an expert. But you should have something to bring to the table next time you join a discussion on beauty.