Anxiety Disorders : The Most Common Mental Health Illness That Affect Children

Today anxiety disorders are recognized as one of the most common mental health disorders. Anxiety has been around since human’s worried about being eaten by saber tooth tigers. “It’s important to note that at its core level, anxiety is a part of evolution. Anxiety is the activation of the fight or flight system the system your body uses to keep you safe from harm (Calm Clinic)”. Oddly, anxiety is a normal part of life; you may feel anxious when having to make a significant decision or taking a test, for most people these normal feelings usually fade, however for those who suffer from an anxiety disorder, these feels never subsides. They can cause such distress that it interferes with an individual’s ability to lead a normal healthy life.

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.

While anxiety disorders seem to be among the most common of childhood disorders, most children with a diagnosable anxiety disorder are not receiving any assistance (Stallard et al., 2014). Further, many studies indicate that anxiety disorders in children do not tend to dissipate without treatment; rather, these disorders continue to affect a child’s well-being and functioning as they grow and can have negative consequences on school performance and social functioning in later years (Saavedra, Silverman, Morgan-Lopez & Kurtines, 2010). It appears that if effective interventions are not implemented to address diagnosable childhood anxieties, the symptoms can progressively become more severe and debilitating (Girling-Butcher & Ronan, 2009).

The concept of “pediatric anxiety” emerged as a central theme in a study of pediatric patients in the Pediatric Emergency Department in order to better care for the pediatric population, determine the source of the patient’s fears, along with providing all encompassing care to pediatric patients. Therefore, I decided to examine the concept of pediatric anxiety. Pediatric patients often attribute hospitals, nurses, and doctors with needles as most often the healthy child sees their pediatrician for well child check ups and immunizations. Some pediatric patients have been diagnosed with anxiety and deal with anxiety on a daily basis while others ' anxiety arises with emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Pediatric anxiety in the hospital can be a result of a multitude of factors and can be demonstrated in a multitude of ways. While some patients may scream and cry, others may become withdrawn. Walking into the doors of an unknown place while feeling sick or experiencing pain, can certainly produce anxiety for patients of all ages. Particularly pediatric patients, with their fear of strangers, inability to comprehend the rationale behind illness or providing care for such illnesses and diseases, and fear of "getting hurt or needles" can all be contributors to anxiety. “Hospitalization can be a threatening and stressful experience for children. Because of unfamiliar with the environment and medical procedures and unaware

She finds herself constantly worrying about the status of her home, being late to work despite waking up an hour before departure, any possible accidents which may lead to her death, and various scenarios which lead to unfortunate events. She states that she has been married for about 10 years to her college sweetheart. She has no children due to her worries of complications during childbearing and raising children. She explains that she worries whether her children will be considered normal, pretty, or crazy. She describes her marriage as ‘hell’ because she feels like her husband does not support her. She does not mention any other family member besides her husband when asked about her family. Janine holds a job as a tax accountant. She works from 6am to 11pm, and recently she has been bringing her work home. This is due to her thoughts constantly interfering with her concentration on tasks. Recently work has been overwhelming for her since there is no method for relieving stress. She states that her husband does not help her with housework, which adds to the stress from work. In fact, she does not see her husband often which prompts her to worry if her husband is having an affair. She is not on medication at the moment; however, she used to take Xanax once every morning for 2 years. As for meals, she states that she only eats quarry, animals hunted for food, and that she does not eat vegetables.

She finds herself constantly worrying that there is no reason; such as the status of her home, being late to work despite waking up an hour before departure, any possible accidents which may lead to her death, and various scenarios which lead to unfortunate events. She states that she has been married for about 10 years to her college sweetheart. She has no children due to her worries of complications during childbearing and raising children. She worries that her children whether children will turn out to be normal, pretty, or crazy like their mother. She describes her marriage as ‘hell’ due to her husband’s lack of support. She does not mention any other family member besides her husband when asked about her family. Janine holds s a job in as a tax accountant. She works from 6am to 11pm, and she brings her work home with her. This is due to her anxiousness interfering with her concentration on tasks. Recently work has been overwhelming for her since there is no method for relieving her stress. She states that her husband does not help her with housework, which adds to the stress from work. In fact, she does not see her husband often which prompts her to worry if her husband is having an affair. She is not on medication at the moment; however, she used to take Xanax once every morning for 2 years. As for meals, she states that she only eats quarry, animals hunted for food, and that she

All children experience some type of anxiety. For example, when a child is left alone at preschool for the first time, many children will show distress. Another example could be when a child has his or her own room, this could develop a fear of the dark. Now normally these aren’t problems but, such anxiety could become a problem when it interrupts a child’s normal activities, like attending school and making friends or sleeping. Persistent or intense anxiety that disrupts daily routine is a mental health problem that requires attention.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses that affect children and the amount of children affected by this mental illness has increased considerably in the past century. However, the amount of children that actually get treatment is drastically low, leaving children to deal with their fears and worries by themselves. The children who deal with anxiety are overcome with fear and worry and are constantly dismissed as acting out for attention because people are unaware of how serious anxiety can affect children. Anxiety plagues children and can affect them for their entire life if not treated and in order to make sure these suffering children get the care they need their needs to be more emphasis on anxiety disorders. Childhood anxiety disorders affect the child and the people involved in the child’s life, yet there is not enough treatment or awareness in today’s society.

Selective Mutism (SM) is a complex disorder, portrayed by the individual’s failure to communicate in the social environment and surroundings. However, as Harwood and Bork (2011) pointed out, the child's actions at home presented no symptoms of the disorder, and the child was a chatterbox at home. The American Psychiatric Association (2013) defined SM as a social phobia disorder. But owing to Doctor Shipon-Blum (2015) it was removed from classification Disorders Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence. Selective Mutism has now been re-classified as an anxiety disorder, but researchers still argued the classification was incorrect. Many theories have evolved to explain the etiology of Selective Mutism (SM), but the attempt to explain

Also the age for the duration to diagnose them changed from under 18 years all to any years of age now. Now for Social Anxiety a person anxiety “must be out of proportion to the actual danger or threat” to be diagnosed (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Panic Disorder is categorized into different diagnostics in the DSM-4 Panic Disorder without Agoraphobia, Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia, in the DSM-5 Panic Disorder is no longer linked to Agoraphobia, because individuals presented Agoraphobia without any symptoms of panic. Diagnosis for Social Anxiety the “specify if” section has changed from “Generalized” to “Performance only”. Meaning that it only applies to individuals that only fear in performing situations. In the DSM-5 Selective Mutism is now part of the Anxiety Disorders in the DSM-4 it was part of the “Disorders Usually First Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence” section. This change was made because a lot of people that have Selective Mutism are highly anxious

However, children who suffer from an anxiety disorder experience fear, nervousness, shyness, and begin avoiding places and activities they would normally enjoy. One in eight children are affected, and research shows that untreated children with anxiety disorders are at a higher risk of performing poorly in school, missing out on important social experiences, and even show a higher propensity for drug and/or alcohol abuse.

A common, but dangerous, mindset that some parents or guardians take on in the face of their child’s unusual levels of anxiety is one of dismissal in which they disregard the forming issue as a phase of some sort that every child must endure; however, such a belief is only partially correct.

Mental health is becoming more prevalent in todays society as many social groups are working to raise awareness for it. However, while this is the case, sometimes children and adolescents that face the same challenges are forgotten about. I chose to research the topic of anxiety because it is personally something I have suffered from since childhood. When we read the chapter for class on anxiety, it was very hard for me. No one recognized the anxiety I had at a younger age and because of that, my anxiety has gotten worse not better. Therefore, through this research I want to grasp a better understanding of treatments for anxiety in children and adolescents.

Clinical and community settings have the highest prevalence of anxiety disorders pertaining to children and adolescents. Thus, effective treatment is produced when development and implementation interests are increased when anxiety disorders in children and adolescent are at the highest prevalence. According to Psychiatric Times (2008), anxiety disorders are more frequently associated with impairments that psychosocially significant; such as poor social relationships, reduction in performance academically, and decreased self-esteem. Overall, leading to untreated anxiety in adulthood. Negative consequences follow behind children and adolescents who have a high prevalence of anxiety disorder, making it difficult to identify important key factors

Anxiety is an incredibly common that many people feel when they face new or challenging situations. For some, however, it is a constant issue that can create issues for completing even the most simple of tasks. According to the Mayo Clinic: “Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, people with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive, and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations.” This is especially a problem in adolescence, when anxiety can affect a child’s ability to make friends, complete schoolwork, or deal with the normal stresses that come from growing up.