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Symptoms of Anxiety in Children

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It is understood that as a parent, you want the best for your children. Parents want their kids to be happy, healthy, well-rounded, and educated. Sometimes a parent notices stress anxiety in their children. Sometimes we notice changes in our children s behavior, but don’t know what is causing it. We (as parents) need to know the symptoms of anxiety in children.

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We can tell when our children are excited about an up-coming event or a special day of the year like a birthday or a holiday. This is very easy to see and I admit, that it brings a smile to my face to see the child expressing so much excitement and happiness.

When a child is sad or not very happy about something coming up, like going to school or seeing a friend, we don’t always know what the problem is and many times we are left confused and concerned about how to help our children.

In this post we are going to learn how to notice symptoms of anxiety in children and learn some ways to relieve stress anxiety in children. There are many fun and entertaining ways to help your child and in return, the methods can help too.

Types of Anxiety That Affect Children

There are many types of stress and anxiety that can affect your child. Children get stressed just like adults do, but they are not educated enough to know how to deal with it. Children often act up, throw fits, refuse to talk, and express their anxiety stress in other fashions that can push the limits of most adults.

First off, always seek out a professionals help when diagnosing your child with an anxiety disorder. We can learn the signs about what to look out for, but do not try to diagnose your child yourself. Still, it is OK to try do what you can to help your child relieve the stress they are experiencing.

General Anxiety:

General anxiety occurs when your child is worried about bad things happening or being worried about the future. They could be worried about a school performance, family activities, or any other normal daily task.

Signs that your child may be experiencing this type of anxiety include: fatigue, muscle tension, nightmares, and trouble concentrating.

Separation Anxiety:

Separation anxiety is probably the most well-know child anxiety. It occurs when a child is separated from his or her parents. General Anxiety in Children

This is normal for children between the ages of 1 through 3 years. Older children my express this type of anxiety by being worried his or her parents may die or they may be separated from them through the law.

Signs that your child may be affect by this type of anxiety include: refusing to go to school, fright about being separated from his or her parents, clinging to parents, and they can have nightmares about being separated. They can even have physical symptoms like headache and upset stomach caused by anxiety.

Social Anxiety:

Social anxiety falls into general anxiety because it is stress caused by engaging in social situations. They maybe worried about seeing friends or participating in school activities.

Signs that your child might be experiencing social anxiety include: clinging to adults, throwing fits, freezing up, and refusing to talk.

Phobias:

Phobias are fears or anxieties about certain objects or situations. Phobias can be a fear of anything, but the most common might be; going to the doctor or dentist, animals, insects, reptiles, loud sounds, needles, and even the outside. I am sure even parents can relate to some of these fears.

Signs that may show your child is having a phobia attack can include: uncontrollable crying, clinging to parents or older siblings, or even freezing up.

My Child Acts Different

Anxiety effects children in different ways. Many people think that anxiety is expressed as a fear or worry, but it can also make children act angry or get angered very easily. Many children bundle his or her anxiety up inside and some symptoms may even not be noticed.

If you, the parent, notices any change in your child’s behavior, then start talking to your child to see if he or she might open up to you. Maybe your child has a favorite aunt or uncle they may open up to. If you notice a change, try to find out why without intruding on your child. If nothing works, then seek out a professional.

Ways To Help Relieve Stress in Children

If your child is expressing major problems with anxiety, then once again, seek out help from a professional such as aHelping Childhood Stress

healthcare provider or a mental health specialist. If your child is expressing minor forms of anxiety stress then there are a few easy ways to help relieve his or her stress and even find out what is causing it.

Playing Games

Children love to play games. Games are a great way for children to let loose from stress and have fun. Choose a game that you can play with your child that includes both of you participating, even if you are just watching. This allows you an opportunity to spend time with your child and maybe they will let his or her guard down enough for you to find out what is going on with your child.

One game that I enjoy playing with kids is called “Wild Ride to the Heart Game.” This game is designed to help children recognize, express, and balance his or her emotions. We always enjoy this game because it is filled fun, funny faces to make, and we get to tell stories about who we are and how we feel.

Listening to Music

Music is a great way to help children relieve stress. Dancing to music and singing funny songs helps children relax and let go of any strong emotions that they be holding in.

This maybe a harder way to reach older children, but it is an easy way to help younger children. One great MP3  that my grandchildren like to listen to is called,”Heart Songs for Children.” Our grandchildren love to sing and dance to these uplifting and inspiring songs. This MP3 is geared toward 3 to 6 year olds.

Going Out for Something SpecialAnxiety Happiness for Children

This is probably my favorite way to relieve childhood stress and spend time with our children and grand children. We pick a special place or activity to go do or visit and then set a date. The children (including the older ones) are always excited about getting together and doing something special together.

This idea was passed down to me by my grandparents. Every couple of weeks, we would get together as a family and go to some places fun like the movies, going out of town, visiting an amusement park, or whatever else my grandpa would think of.

Conclusion

Children suffer from anxiety maybe just as hard as parents do. If you have trouble handling stress in your life, then your children probably will have trouble too. The best thing to do is to learn how to notice the signs of anxiety in both you and your children and find fun ways to relieve the stress.

You can do it and in return, you will be helping your children learn how to deal with stress early on so they will be better prepared for stress in the future.

Please leave a comment below with any stories or tips about how you help your children deal with stress. Thank you in advance. I normally respond within 24 hours. I look forward to hearing from you.

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==>I would love to hear your experiences, questions, and thoughts about this subject, so please feel free to leave a comment below. I normally respond within 24 hours. Feel free to share this information with anyone you think will benefit from it. Talk with you later, Greg<==


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20 thoughts on “Symptoms of Anxiety in Children”

  1. As we adults face the everyday stresses in our lives, it’s easy to forget that children have stress as well, much of which they may not even understand or be able to put into words. Thank you for drawing our attention back to that. Your strategies are excellent.

    Reply
    • Hi Cynthia,
      Not only do kids have stress, they are watching us to learn how to deal with it. If we are bad at it then our children will learn bad habits too. As parents, we really need to know the signs is stress in our children so we can make sure they learn to cope with it in healthy ways.

      Thanks for the comment and stopping by

      Reply
  2. Hi Greg,

    Thank you for your great article. Unfortunately, anxiety affects even children and it is important to know the symptoms in order to be able to identify them. Moreover, knowing how to manage anxiety at an early age is essential in overcoming it.
    Kind regards,
    Yoana

    Reply
    • You are correct,
      If we teach kids to handle stress at an early age then we can better equip them for the future.

      Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts

      Reply
  3. I think this is great information and so important to be aware of! I was a teacher in a public school for 9 years and I saw my share of anxiety in kids. I am a huge fan of music, it is such a powerful thing that can help in so many ways! Games and special outings are awesome with kids as well.

    You mentioned separation anxiety, I definitely saw that in kiddos 5-7 years old. Some kids really worried about being away from their parents while at school. One thing we tried was letting them draw a picture or write a note to their parents while at school. This could be a reoccurring thing if it helped them, they could just go off to a specific part of the classroom and draw/write.

    This will be a great resource to many people to be more prepared to recognize and help kids with anxiety. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Hi Heidi,
      Thank you so much for adding these great ideas in your comment.?
      It is always great to hear from someone who has been there.

      Thank you again,
      Greg

      Reply
  4. Interesting article have bookmarked this for the future reference, maybe because I have quite an interest in this topic having kids myself. Thanks for sharing
    Jason 🙂

    Reply
    • Hi again Jason,
      I am glad that you found a need for this post. I was studying the subject because I just became a grandfather. I should have learned this earlier, myself. But you live and learn?

      Reply
  5. I can really relate to this article as I had anxiety as a child (and still have sometimes!). When I was 9 years old, my father told us we were moving to China for his work. I felt fine, but I had weird symptoms like feeling there was always something stuck in my throat.
    Later on in my teens, I also always felt nauseous to the point where I was missing school.
    Things that really helped me deal with the symptoms was eating a healthier diet, practicing lots of sports in school…and even small things like doing cross-word puzzles!

    Thanks for this article and for reminding us how important it is for parents to recognize the signs of anxiety in children.

    Reply
    • Hi Fernanda ?
      Thank you for sharing your story. Kids don’t know what stress or anxiety is, so like you mentioned, you didn’t even know you were being affected by stress.
      Thank you again for sharing

      Reply
  6. Hi Greg

    Thank you for your very informative article. You are correct in saying that parents should learn how to recognize the signs of anxiety in their children. Especially, in small children who cannot explain what they are feeling.

    Sometimes, when we dropped off my grandson at daycare, he would hold on to us and refuse to let go. But it never crossed our mind that it might me separation anxiety, because it happens occasionally and other times, he is ok, and can’t wait to get there.

    I know for parents and child; separation anxiety is very high at the beginning of the school year when they take their child to school for the first time.

    You are correct in saying anxiety affect children in different ways, and that is also true for adult. Doing different activities as you suggested will definitely help children who are having problem with anxiety.

    I learned a lot from reading your article. Thanks again.

    Reply
    • Hi ? Jackie,
      Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my post.
      Many parents don’t realize that their stress coping habits are being learned by their young children.
      All of us parents and grandparents need to make sure we are teaching them healthy ways to cope with stress.

      Have fun with your grandson,
      Greg

      Reply
  7. Great article. This is a topic my niece has been researching for a class and I’m really glad I stumbled onto this. Gonna forward this over. Well put together!

    Reply
  8. As a parent of 3, I know from experience how stress and anxiety can affect a child’s life and the life of a child’s parents. It can really be tough. As a parent you don’t want to see your children hurt; when they hurt you hurt. I have a 15 year old son that suffers from anxiety( he has been diagnosed). It can be frustrating for me because he seems so angry all the time. It gets very discouraging so I can only imagine how he feels.

    Reply
    • Yes Ashley,
      It is hard for a parent to see their child suffer from anything. I remember being 15. It seemed like every little thing that happened matter and would last an eternity. It didn’t, but it still seems like it took a lifetime to learn it wouldn’t last for ever. All we can do is share good thoughts, even if he or she won’t listen right now. One day they will get it and be thankful we did.

      Thank for leaving your thoughts

      Reply
  9. The words that we gave to our kids is a powerful tool, and then creates their dreams, future and destiny. Sometimes they want to be like us an imitate our own actions. We are all have the “inner child” that we have to listen too and then reflect and apply it to our own children so that we understand them in certain times the most they needed us.

    Reply
    • Very true words, Frederick.
      The words we use, our kids will use too. This means we as parents need to make sure when are teaching the best we can at all times. Thank you for leaving your thoughts.

      Reply
  10. I can see the common sense in everything you talked up in the article. Sometimes it just comes down to thinking about something you did as a child that made you happy as well.
    Children have been like this since the world started turning.

    Reply

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