About Child Anxiety Disorder

Child anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental, emotional, and behavioral problems that commonly occur in both children and adolescents. The childhood anxiety disorder usually affects more girls than boys. Depression usually accompanies the childhood anxiety disorder in most of the children and adolescents.

Children with an anxiety disorder are usually so afraid, worried, or uneasy that they cannot function normally. Some anxiety disorders can last through out the life of the child and can greatly interfere in day to day work. There are various types of anxiety disorders which are commonly found in young children.

Anxiety disorders in children can range from a simple adjustment disorder to more difficult and debilitating disorders such as panic disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. If anxiety disorder in a child is not treated in the early stages, it can lead to missed school days or an inability to finish school, impaired relations with peers and low self-esteem.

Some of the types of anxiety disorders that can occur in a child include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and acute stress disorder. Some other types of anxiety disorder common in children include social phobia, specific phobia, adjustment disorder with anxiety, and anxiety disorder due to a general medical condition.

Anxiety is a subjective sense of worry, apprehension, fear, and distress which can occur in some strange situations that takes place occasionally. To know the symptoms of an anxiety disorder, it is important to distinguish between normal levels of anxiety and unhealthy or pathologic levels of anxiety. The symptoms of an anxiety disorder include physical sensations such as headache, nausea, and sweating and emotional sensations such as nervousness and fear.

Thinking ability, decision-making ability, perceptions of the environment, learning, and concentration of a child are baby affected in severe cases of anxiety disorders. An anxiety disorder can raise blood pressure and heart rate and also cause a multitude of bodily complaints, such as vomiting, stomach pain, ulcers, diarrhea, tingling, weakness, and shortness of breath.