Anxiety in Children and Tweens
Despite the negative connotation of the word, anxiety in children is relatively common, with full-blown anxiety disorders affecting about 13 percent of tweens and teens. Even more children and tweens experience anxiety to a lesser degree. Here is some key information on anxiety in children.
When you observe possible anxiety symptoms in your child, it can be hard to know whether they’re cause for concern. If the symptoms are causing distress or impairing your child’s life, they may be considered problematic. If not, it’s possible that your child just has a more subdued, introspective nature. Follow up is important, however, since untreated anxiety issues may come along with other problems, such as mood issues and/or dysfunctional eating.
If your tween has experienced a brief episode of shaking, sweating, dizziness and a sense of impending doom, it may have been a panic attack. Panic attacks can be isolated or may be part of a larger anxiety issue such as panic disorder.
One form of anxiety in children is school refusal. There are other possible reasons for school refusal that do not involve anxiety, however, such as adjusting to a new school year. Keep watch on how your tweens interactions with friends, teachers, and school events affect their behavior. If they become affected beyond the normal jitters of newness one feels in some situations, seek help from your tweens pediatrician.
Tweens who experience puberty early are at higher risk for anxiety. It’s unclear why precocious puberty has this effect, but there are ways to offset some of the issues. Puberty brings with it a host of changes that may attribute to feelings of anxiety including bodily changes, such as growth in weight and/or height, body shape changes, as well as hormonal changes. Coupled with the need for more privacy regarding menstrual cycles for girls and erections and/or “wet dreams” for boys. Add to this the increase of hair, voice changes, and sexual urges and it may be more than your tween can take.
Another possible cause of anxiety in children is being bullied at school. Bullying can cause anxiety issues both immediately and in the long run. Notably, bullies themselves may also suffer from anxiety because of their acts. By talking to your teen about how to deal with conflict, what constitutes a good relationship, both friendship and romantically, you set him or her up for proper resolutions when anxiety comes from normal life events.
Anxiety in children can be decreased in a number of ways. Mild anxiety may be decreased through regular exercise, which should be frequent and vigorous. For more severe cases of anxiety, therapy or medication may also be needed.
Source: VeryWellFamily.com
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