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Worried and woeful
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Is your child suffering from an anxiety disorder? Read on…
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WATCH OUT The child’s behaviour is an indicator
Just as adults experience anxiety, children and teens too suffer anxiety disorders. Stressful events such as starting school, peer pressure and separation from or loss of a parent can trigger an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety is a subjective sense of worry, apprehension and distress. While it is normal to experience these sensations on occasion, it is also important to distinguish between normal levels and unhealthy or pathologic levels of anxiety.
It should, however, be understood that a specific stressor need not be a precursor to the development of a disorder. Research has shown that if an anxiety disorder in a child is left untreated, he is at a higher risk of performing poorly in school and of having less-developed social skills. Although children experience anxiety symptoms in much the same way as adults, they display these symptoms differently. This can lead to difficulties in diagnosis. It can be difficult to determine whether a child’s behaviour is just a passing phase or whether it constitutes a disorder.
Separation Anxiety Disorder: About 4 per cent of children suffer from this disorder. Many experience separation anxiety between 18 months and three years of age.
Initially, a child may also experience stranger anxiety — an infant cries when it meets or is held by an unfamiliar person.
It is normal for a child to feel anxious when a parent leaves the room or goes out of sight. Usually he/she can be distracted from these feelings. Separation anxiety when a child starts pre-school is common.
The child stops crying when he/she becomes engaged in various activities.
Symptoms: The child may try to avoid going to places by themselves, refuse to go to school, follow a parent around and demand that someone stay with them at bedtime.
Social Anxiety Disorder: Social anxiety disorder is characterised by intense fear of social and performance situations.
Symptoms: The child is hesitant to be in the limelight and feels uncomfortable if pushed into it. He avoids initiating conversation, does not perform in front of others or hesitates to make phone calls even regarding simple things such as homework. He avoids eye contact while speaking to strangers, speaks softly or mumbles. Generalised Anxiety Disorder: Defined as excessive worry, apprehension, and anxiety occurring on most days for a period of 6 months or more over a number of activities or events.
Symptoms: The person has difficulty controlling his anxiety. He is easily fatigued, has difficulty concentrating; his mind goes blank, he is irritable, and finds it difficult to sleep.
Panic Disorder: Different from Panic Attacks; Panic Disorder is defined as sudden, discrete episodes of intense fear and/or discomfort accompanied by four out of 13 bodily or cognitive symptoms, often manifesting itself as an intense desire to escape, feelings of doom or dread, and impending danger.
These symptoms peak within 10 minutes and subside within 20-30 minutes.
Symptoms: Palpitation or increased heart rate; sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, choking sensation, chest discomfort or pain, nausea or abdominal distress, feeling dizzy or light-headed, being detached from oneself, fear of losing control, fear of dying, numbness or tingling sensation, chills or hot flushes.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Defined by persistent obsessions (intrusive, unwanted thoughts, images, ideas or urges) and/or Compulsions (intense uncontrollable repetitive behaviour or mental acts related to the obsessions) that are found unreasonable and excessive.
Symptoms: The most common obsessions concern dirt and contamination, repeated doubts, need to have things arranged in a specific way, fearful aggressive or murderous impulses, and disturbing sexual imagery. The most frequent compulsions involve repetitive washing of hands or using a handkerchief/tissue to touch things, checking drawers, locks, windows, and doors, counting rituals, repeating actions, and requesting reassurance.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: An individual suffers this when he is exposed to a traumatic event in which he or she experiences, witnesses, or is confronted by an event or events that involve actual or perceived threat of death or serious bodily injury. His response to such situations is one of intense fear, helplessness, or horror.
Symptoms: The traumatic event is continually re-experienced in the following ways: recurrent and intrusive distressing remembrances of it involving images, thoughts, perceptions or distressing dreams, acting or believing that the event is recurring; intense anxiety and distress when exposed to situations that resemble the traumatic event.
It is necessary to seek professional help when symptoms of these disorders are observed, especially if the parent senses that the anxiety is not within in the normal threshold but seems to be at a pathological level.
JAISHRI RAMAKRISHNAN
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