Spot the Signs and Symptoms of Anxiety in Kids
Excessive worry, sleeplessness, stomaches — these are all common signs of anxiety in children. While it’s normal for kids to experience fear and worry from time to time, anxiety is a disruptive and persistent problem for a child. Learn ABOUt the most common symptoms of childhood anxiety and when to seek treatment.
Anxiety is often missed or misdiagnosed. Resulting in children not receiving effective treatment. Reasons include:
Symptoms can vary widely, with behaviors ranging from withdrawal and avoidance to irritability and lashing out.
Anxiety shares symptoms with other disorders like ADHD.
Children can be good at hiding their thoughts and feelings.
Only a mental health professional can make a diagnosis, but here are nine common signs and symptoms of anxiety and children
1. Worrying a lot
Children or teens with anxiety feel worry or fear that is out of proportion to what they’re actually experiencing. Some kids get anxious only in response to specific things like going to school or the doctor, getting into an elevator or specific animals, while others worry a lot in general..
These recurring fears and worries can be about routine parts of everyday life. Anxious behaviors don’t go away over time without help and can get in the way of your child’s ability to live a normal life
2. Physical symptoms
Recurring headaches, stomachaches, nausea. sweating and racing heart can all be physical signs of anxiety in children and teens. These physical symptoms of anxiety are related to the fight-or-flight response triggered when the brain detects or perceives danger.
3. Avoiding certain situations
Depending on what makes them anxious, kids might avoid things that others enjoy or are comfortable doing. For example, kids with social anxiety might avoid playing with other kids or ask to stay home from school.
4. Short attention span and difficulty concentrating
Anxious thoughts can distract kids from schoolwork and other tasks. When kids are anxious, they might have a hard time focusing in the classroom or completing a homework assignment or task at home. Their minds are elsewhere - focused on that which makes them anxious.
5. Trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep
Worries and fears can make it harder for children and teens to fall asleep and stay asleep during the night. Lack of sleep can worsen anxiety with stress, creating a cycle of sleeplessness and anxiety. Learn more about the link between sleep and anxiety
6. Disruptive behavior or irritability
Anxiety can make some kids aggressive. Children and teens with anxiety sometimes lash out, act aggressively or be irritable when they are overwhelmed by uncomfortable feelings and don’t know how to handle them.
7. A constant need for reassurance
Some children and teens with anxiety need lots of reassurance. This can show in several ways, such as a child having trouble separating from their parents, or a teen asking lots of questions and seeking confirmation from a teacher. Some anxious kids worry about looking bad in front of other people or being made fun of, or they may say demeaning things about themselves as a way to seek reassurance from others.
8. A dramatic drop in grades or refusal to go to school
School can be unsettling to many children and teens with anxiety, from being in social situations to putting individual pressure to succeed in the classroom or in sports. When kids resist going to school or experience a drop in grades, it’s not necessarily about school itself.
Children and teens with anxiety may demonstrate a number of behaviors that impact their school behavior and grades. They may have attendance issues, behave in a way that’s seen as not paying attention, get up out of their seat all the time, or ask lots of questions.
9. Experimenting with drugs or signs of substance abuse
Teenagers who are anxious (not unlike adults who are anxious) may use recreational drugs, especially marijuana or e-cigarettes, as a way of coping with their discomfort. Using drugs or alcohol is a poor coping mechanism because the anxiety persists and the teenager can become dependent on the substance.
