Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety is really just a form of stress. It can be experienced in many different ways in kids, for example physically, emotionally, and in the way kids view the world around them. Anxiety mainly relates to worry about what might happen or worrying about things going wrong or feeling like you're in some kind of danger. Anxiety can effect children's grades, development, social and family life.

Symptoms Of Anxiety Disorders

  • Excessive, unrealistic fears about day-to-day activities
  • "What if" concerns that span far into the future
  • Uncontrollable worry about multiple situations, performance, social, academic, health, financial
  • Physical symptoms: headaches, stomachaches, inability to unwind
  • Difficulty concentrating, always thinking what's next
  • Low risk-taking; Need for reassurance and approval for small steps
  • Perfectionism, great fear of making mistakes, fear of criticism; unrealistic unfavorable assessment of their grades, abilities
  • Over-responsibility, feels that tragedies are preventable by worry, and if disaster happens that it's their fault
  • Any negative piece of news that happens to others, fears will happen to them; everything is contagious by association: divorce, illness, car accidents, food poisoning
  • Reviewing events to make sure that didn't hurt anyone's feelings or do anything wrong
  • Sleep difficulties, irritability, fatigue
"You wouldn't worry so much about what others
think of you if you realized how seldom they do"

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Helpful Resources For Anxiety Disorders

The UCLA Childhood OCD, Anxiety & Tic Disorders Program is a clinical research program that specializes in the evaluation and treatment of anxiety and related problems in children
The Yale Child Study Center Program for Anxiety Disorders is a leading clinical and research center for the assessment and treatment of children with anxiety disorders.
The Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University (BU CARD) is an internationally known clinical and research center specializing in helping both adults and children address a range of anxiety disorders and related challenges.