Symptoms of Anxiety in Children
Children’s fears are often natural, and arise at specific times in their development. Children may be afraid of the dark, strangers, thunderstorms, dogs. But some children will be fearful out of nowhere for no apparent reason. Children often feel nervous, can’t sleep, experience stomach ailments, tremble, cry, or very agitated and disruptive. As a child matures, certain fears will disappear on their own. Some develop fears from a traumatic experience (e.g. traumatic dog attack), but for some children, there is no clear event that causes the fear to arise.
As the child matures, usually they will become less fearful of things they can now understand. But for some children, the fears become more intense and begin to interfere with their daily lives. If you child is experiencing any of the symptoms below, you should have the child evaluated by a physician.
- Constant thoughts and fears about safety of self and parents
- Refusing to go to school
- Frequent stomach aches and other physical complaints Difficulty in sleeping alone or in room by themselves
- Overly clingy
- Tantrums or panic at times of separation from parents
- Excessive or unrealistic fears of monsters, bad people, animals, etc.
- Fear of being in the dark Fear of crowds
- Excessive nervousness, rocking or facial tics
