Anxiety Disorders And Its Effects On Children And Adolescents

Childhood anxiety is quickly becoming the most challenging of all childhood problems. As the root of most problems, anxiety covers a long range of stressors that spread quickly if not treated or relieved early in life. Anxious feelings in children varies from children of all backgrounds. All people feel anxious at one point or another, and it is only when children are affected daily and unable to be calmed when people should become concerned. Many times, children are feeling overwhelmed and cannot express themselves or struggle to understand his/her feelings. Social and emotional development then plays a big part when facing concerns like anxiety in a young childhood environment. Teachers and caregivers need to take a step back and focus on what the child needs rather than what he/she can do to make children calm down. Through interventions, patience, and caring teachers, a young child does not need to be known as "The Child Who is Anxious", he/she can just be a child.

Anxiety disorders are prevalent in many adults all over the world. People with anxiety disorders have an impaired ability to work and function in their daily lives compared to a person without an anxiety disorder (Fuller-Thomson, Olfson, Villegas, Morcillo, Wang & Blanco, 2012). Many research studies have been conducted to understand how anxiety disorders development and to find the best treatment (Wilson & Scarpa, 2014). Through the research, it has become apparent that both genetic and environmental factors have an effect in the development in these disorders. Although evidence does suggest environmental factors have a greater impact (Maniglio, 2013).

“Anxiety is the signal of danger which mobilizes the human organism’s resources at all levels of functioning in the interests of conservation, defense, and self- preservation.” (Anxiety 1) If a person suffers from anxiety there is a major loss of control and then an attempt to regain that control because of a fear that they have. Anxiety disorders are one of the most frequently occurring mental disorders in the United States. However, anxiety disorders are not only found in the United States. They are found throughout the world. They just happen to be most predominating in the United States. In this paper, I will be discussing the generalized anxiety disorder and how if effects society today.

Current epidemiological data suggest anxiety disorders are the most prevalent type of childhood psychological disorders. Generalized Anxiety Disorder or GAD is described by excessive worrying about a variety of events, including those in the past, present, and future. Children with this disorder worry excessively about a number of issues, including past conversations or actions, upcoming events, school, family health, their own health, competence in sports or academics, and world events. Typically, children experiencing such excessive worry find it difficult to control the amount of time that they worry, and the worrying interferes in their daily life. Sometimes children don’t realize their anxiety is excessive considering the situation.

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorder in the United States. Between 15 - 19% of the population suffers from this disorder, which impairs the quality of life and functioning (Stuart 218). What is anxiety? Abnormal Psychology describes anxiety as “an adaptive emotion that helps us plan and prepare for a possible theat.” The text book further states, “worrying about many different aspects of life becomes chronic, excessive, and unreasonable.” This is also known as generalized anxiety disorder or GAD (Butcher 201). DSM IV-TR specifies that GAD is a worry that occurs more days then not for at least 6 months, and that it must be experienced as difficult to control (Butcher 201). 25% of those that suffer from this

Adolescence is a difficult time period in a young person’s transition into their later stage of both physical and mental development. Mood disorders are often overlooked during this time for the brain becoming more developed; however among children, anxiety disorders seem to be the most common disorders to be experienced (Nelson; Israel, pg 112). Barlow (2002) defines anxiety as a future-oriented emotion that is characterized by the inability to be in control and predict future events that can be potentially dangerous to the individual. Anxiety shares commonalities with fear, but the difference between the two being that fear is the initial response made from a present threat, where anxiety is due to a unknown future event. A common

To experience any form of anxiety, such as interviews, a drive in traffic, or even a first date is a natural- human experience. For instance, one begins to undergo a feeling of failure regarding specific class. Nevertheless, sometimes, the emotion, keeps us motivated and school work-orientated. Yet, now and then, anxiety can take a hold on one when intense fear and distress becomes too overwhelming; it can prevent one from doing everyday thing. As a result, anxiety disorder can be the cause (B. T. Anxiety Disorders, 2016). According to National Alliance of Mental Illness, known as NAMI (2016), anxiety disorders are a common mental health concern in the United States. Roughly, forty million adults in the United States, and eight percent of children and teenagers face some sort of a negative impact of an anxiety disorder. Consequently, people develop symptoms of anxiety disorder before the age twenty-one.

Anxiety disorders is the most common grouping of psychiatric illnesses which can affect both children and adults. There is an estimated 19 million adult persons in the United States suffering from an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders stem from numerous sources, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) categorizes these disorders as General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder, and phobias. Anxiety disorders are treatable and manageable by psychosocial therapies, medication, or both, though only about one-third of those suffering from

With anxiety disorders being one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders in the United States continued research is critical. The pervasiveness of these disorders including panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder and specific disorders comes at a high cost both socially and economically (Beidel et

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent of psychiatric disorders, yet less than 30% of individuals who suffer from anxiety disorders seek treatment (Lepine, 2002). Anxiety disorder refers to a group of mental illnesses that includes generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder also called social phobia and specific phobias (Anxiety Disorders Association of America, 2014). In the United States studies find that anxiety disorders afflict 15.7 million people in the United States each year, and 30 million people in the United States at some point in their lives (Lepine, 2002). Research as shown that 30% of girls suffer from anxiety

Having generalized anxiety is more than just a reaction one experiences during stressful times. Rather, it is a feeling of constant paranoia, of constant fear, that takes over your daily routines and every day life. Anxiety is more than being anxious about an upcoming midterm, of an upcoming speech or presentation – it is having mental breakdowns, panic attacks and obsessive thoughts that consume your imagination, your thoughts. Generalized anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) preludes into something greater than living in constant fear of either contracting an illness or being contaminated by germs. They act as inhibitors, preventing healthy wellbeing, positive emotions and healthy relationships. While OCD and anxiety play a huge

One out of every twenty teenagers in the United States suffers from an anxiety disorder. Everyone becomes anxious once in awhile, but a teen with an anxiety disorder is constantly anxious. Teenagers who suffer from an anxiety disorder have excessive worry or fear. In today’s society, teenagers suffering from an anxiety disorder are becoming more frequent. Unfortunately, not all teenagers with an anxiety disorder are not diagnosed. Most parents don’t see that their child is struggling, leaving the teen to continue down this lonely, rocky slope. There are multiple anxiety disorder commonly found in teenagers, such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder.

On October 10th Brad Riemann, PhD held a conviction on anxiety related disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), general anxiety disorder (GED), and social anxiety disorder (SAD). His presentation was packed full of information on the skim of each disorder. For example, anxiety related disorders are very common (OCD is 2.5% common, GED is 5%, and SAD is 7-8%). I also learned that anxiety disorders are often comorbid with depression (SAD is also comorbid with substance abuse disorder). Most people find out they have GED when they check into a health care facility to check on physical symptoms (GED has the symptoms of restlessness, fatigue, impaired concentration, muscle tenseness, and sleep problems). What separates normal nervousness

This is an article that specifically looks at anxiety in the school setting for adolescents. This article starts off with a story of a girl named Samantha. Samantha is a fourteen year old student that has test taking anxiety. She feels sweaty and would see the nurse daily because of her anxiousness. The article talks about the case of Samantha being common with many students in school. The article then goes into the different characteristics such as worry. Anxiety can manifest in three different ways: behaviorally, physiologically, and cognitively. Many different behaviors that children exhibit because of anxiety are reflected their attempts to control their anxiety. When discussing anxiety, there are different causes of anxiety and

Anxiety is described as the apprehensive anticipation of future external or internal danger. It is a normal and adaptive human emotion that acts as a warning system designed to facilitate self-protection in the presence of potentially harmful stimuli (REFERENC NEEDED). According to Lang's tripartite model (Lang,1968), anxiety is best described as a multidimensional construct with three core components including physiological symptoms (e.g.,