Most Common Types Of Anxiety That Affect Children

Childhood itself is quite an anxious process. All kids are given the tasks of learning new skills, meeting with new challenges, overcoming fears and surviving in and navigating a world that does not always make sense to them. most kids are able to handle the pressure, but sometimes these fears and stressors might be too much for them to handle. Even the comforts provided by the adults are not enough sometimes. In such cases, a child may end up having a diagnosable anxiety disorder. In view of this, there are a number of established ways to help kids manage the anxiety.

In the United States, the most common metal illness is anxiety disorder, and kids are no exception. Around one in every eight children may be going through an anxiety disorder, but most of them who would qualify for a diagnosis would not get the treatment they need. Not treating anxiety the right way can leave a child at risk of reduced performance in school, poor social skills and harmful behaviors such as substance abuse. Nowadays, there are several programs for helping children understand discrimination between different types of anxiety and other mental illnesses.

Types of childhood anxiety disorders

There are a number of types of anxiety disorder, but here are some of the most common types of anxiety disorders experienced by children.

1. Generalized anxiety disorder- If your child is experiencing excessive anxiety or worry that ends up resulting in fatigue, irritability, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, or sleep disturbances, then they may receive a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder. This worry may particularly be about school performance, friendships, family relationships, or other activities or concerns.

2. Separation anxiety disorder- Some amount of separation anxiety is developmentally appropriate, especially for the children aged between 1–3 years old. However, for the older children, if they end up having excessive fear or anxiety about being separated from their caregivers, then they may qualify for a diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder. Children with this type of anxiety disorder may tend to worry about their parents dying or being separated from them. They may even sometimes refuse to go out or go to school, have nightmares about separation, or experience some kind of physical symptoms such as headaches or nausea because of this anxiety.

3. Selective mutism- The children with selective mutism may sometimes refuse to speak in social situations, even if they are very talkative at home or wherever else they feel comfortable. They may even refuse to speak at schools and withdraw from other and avoid eye contact. Children around the age of 5 are the most common ones to be diagnosed with this disorder.

If you notice even the slightest symptoms in your child, you must get them diagnosed as soon as possible so that their treatment can begin in time and they can recover as early as possible.

Author’s Bio: The author is an avid blogger. This article is about anxiety disorders in kids.