Generalized Anxiety In Children

Untreated anxiety symptoms can develop into various disorders, significantly affecting children’s cognitive, behavioral, and somatic functioning (Maid, Smokowski, & Bacallao, 2008). Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses experienced by children and adolescents. According to Walkup et al. (2008) the prevalence of anxiety disorders among children remains within a range of 10-20%. Anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive fears and worry causing discomfort that interferes with a child’s well-being and affects all areas of a child’s life, including school, home, and social life (Cooley & Boyce, 2004).

Children who are anxious will be hesitant to explore their surroundings. The can learn slower than the others, mainly because they are not exploring as the other children are. For a child who is anxious, they require special attention They need constant reassurance. Most anxious children could learn to feel safer and comfortable in their surroundings. I believe that even though

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.

This she felt was the childhood feeling of being alone, isolated and helpless in a potentially hostile world. According to Horney, basic anxiety results not from sexual or aggressive conflicts but from disturbances in the child’s relationship with his or her parents. Things such as rejection, punishment, the breakdown of trust and overprotection can all lead to excessive anxiety, according to Horney. Being raised with trust, love, warmth and tolerance minimizes this.

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 has both mental and physical effects, it is our internal alarm system to put our mind on a physical alert and prepares for us a "fight or flight response". This alarm can go away when we know that everything is okay and there is no danger nearby or nothing is going to happen but sometimes our alarm will not shut off and then an anxiety problem persists. There are different types of anxiety disorders and I will discuss generalized anxiety disorder

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).

Stress and anxiety affect a large segment of the child and adolescent population. Numerous stressors from a wide range of domains contribute to the current levels of subclinical anxiety and diagnosed anxiety disorders. Without effective coping strategies, the cumulative effect of these stressors can lead to the clinical diagnosis of one or more anxiety disorders. Left untreated, these disorders can carry severe long-term consequences, including social, cognitive, and academic impairments. Furthermore, these deficiencies can lead to significant limitations in adulthood, such as reduced career choices, substance abuse, and an increase in the use of both mental and physical health care.

Anxiety plagues millions of Americans every day. There are so many people who go about their daily lives struggling with an untreated anxiety disorder. Contrary to popular assumption, anxiety is not something that goes away on its own. Each anxiety disorder is unique, and finding a way to treat your own type of anxiety can be a very emotionally taxing experience.

Anxiety, also known as generalized anxiety disorder, is categorized by Mayo Clinic as “ongoing anxiety and worry that are difficult to control and interfere with day-to-day activities”(“Generalized”). According to Mayo Clinics article Generalized Anxiety Disorder that not only adults but also children and adolescent who have this disorder that “Your anxiety, worry or physical symptoms cause you significant distress in social, work or other areas of your life.” Everyone experiences anxiety at one point in their life it; however, becomes a disorder once it starts to interfere with the everyday life of that person. The symptoms of anxiety in adults are persistent worrying over normally insignificant details in life, overthinking, having difficulty

Odds are you or someone you know suffers from an anxiety disorder, this comes at no surprise however, because according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America a whopping 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population suffer from these disorders. According to helpguide.org there are six types of anxiety disorders, they consist of generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Within some of these disorders are different more specific disorders that can be diagnosed as well. For the most part all of these disorders come with their own signs, symptoms, caustations, and treatments, leaving a visit to a mental health professional as the best

I will discuss what Anxiety is, how to diagnose it, and also how to treat it. It is very common and I’m pretty sure most of you know basically what it is. But just in case I will go over the main important things to know about Anxiety. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear. For a person with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time. The feelings can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, school work, and relationships. There are several different types of anxiety disorders. Examples include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder. According to the American psychological association, Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and invisible changes like increased blood pressure. You can have OCD, phobias, panic attacks, and PTSD. OCD is basically anxiety that takes the form of obsessions and compulsions. I know many of you guys are scared of spiders or bees and that is

Many studies have been done with children trying to determine what causes anxiety and through that find out how to prevent it. One study was done with children who had mood problems and followed them through adolescence and young adulthood and showed consistencies with mood disorders while children and anxiety as they got older. (Roza, 2003). Programs implemented to try and prevent anxiety in children have not worked due to lack of information and costs. (Evans, D.L.,2005). There has been a lot of research done to find out the potential causes of anxiety, but no conclusive results. Although you can’t prevent anxiety disorders, you can take steps to reduce the impact. (Mayo Clinic, 2015). Step 1 is to get help early on and don’t wait for your symptoms to worsen. Step 2 would be to journal about how you feel and what triggers your anxiety. Step 3 is to organize and prioritize your life. Step 4 is to avoid alcohol and drug use to cope with your problems. Even though you can’t prevent anxiety, implementing these steps can go a long way towards lessening the impact of your anxiety

An anxiety disorder is described as the occurrence of anxiety without an obvious external cause that affects daily functioning. It occurs in four major forms panic disorder, phobic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In a research study by Phillip Kendall in 1994, an investigation on psychosocial treatment with forty-seven children aged nine to thirteen with anxiety disorders was done. Kendall felt this particular study was important because adults were mostly likely to seek help for the child who behaves aggressively while overlooks the child that showed inadequate social skills. Mostly due to the fact that children were normally anxious about several aspects of life and saw anxiousness as part of a regular function in their children. Though anxiety is a natural process in children it becomes a serious issue when it negatively impacts a child development and in turns causes psychological distress for the child as they progress into adulthood. In Kendall 's study, he compared a sixteen session cognitive-behavioral treatment group with a

Anxiety is problematic in schools and affects children in the classroom. Anxiety is a feeling that makes them feel they are in danger even when there is not a threat. The anxious children may have an uneasy, persistent feeling about situations which can result in catastrophic thinking. Statistics show that “One in eight children suffer from some form of anxiety disorder” (Minahan, 2012) and it is very common. Depending on the form of anxiety, whether it being, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder the students ' behavior can vary depending on which disorder they have. It is very crucial for teachers to understand and recognize the signs these children show so that the