Does My Kid Have Anxiety? Here’s How to Tell

It’s completely normal for your kid to worry about starting a new school or a big test, but when these negative thoughts and feelings start to affect your child’s life (and your own), it may be time to consider if your child is suffering from anxiety. If you’re concerned that your child is struggling with their mental health, you’re not alone: diagnosis of childhood anxiety and depression have increased from 5.4% of the U.S. child population in 2003 to 9.4% in 2019 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2023). That’s over 5.8 million kids! It’s important to pay attention to any changes in your child’s behavior, as symptoms of anxiety are mostly mental and thus not outwardly obvious. Kids often have a hard time understanding the feelings they are experiencing and describing it with words, so it’s common for behaviors to be the main warning flag to parents that something isn’t quite right. If you notice worrying behavioral or mental changes in your child, it’s important to take them to a qualified mental health professional. Behavioral symptoms of anxiety can mimic that of ADHD and/or Oppositional Defiant Disorder, which professionals are trained to distinguish, accurately diagnose, and treat. If you think your child may be suffering from anxiety, read on to learn the common symptoms of anxiety in kids. 

Anxiety is mainly a cognitive disorder, meaning that it affects the way kids think and feel. Some cognitive changes you might notice are:

• Worrying excessively.

• Expressing negative thoughts.

• New fears, such as fears of the dark, leaving the house, or going to school. 

• Difficulty concentrating. 

Cognitive symptoms can be hard to ascertain because kids often don’t have the vocabulary to express their feelings. Children may instead develop unusual behaviors that help lessen the uncomfortable feelings (i.e. skin picking), interpret anxious feelings as physical pains (i.e stomach aches), or express big emotions they are more familiar with (i.e. anger or sadness). Some such behavioral symptoms of childhood anxiety include:

• Crying spells.

• Clinginess.

• Bedwetting, sleep problems, and/or nightmares. 

• Aggression.

• Body-focused repetitive behaviors such as skin picking, hair pulling, and cheek biting.

• Temper tantrums. 

• Changing appetite.

• Hoarding items. 

• School refusal (playing sick, asking to stay home, anger/crying on school mornings).

• Socially withdrawing from friends and family. 

• Complaining of stomach aches and headaches. 

If your child is exhibiting some of the above symptoms, it’s time to call a mental health professional to evaluate your child for anxiety. Anxiety is a treatable condition and it’s vital to address the disorder before it grows into a more debilitating issue as the child evolves into an adolescent, and eventually an adult. Your mental health professional will institute a treatment plan to help your child, and this may include talk or play therapy, lifestyle changes, specific interventions, and occasionally, medication. If you’re interested in having your child evaluated for anxiety, the experienced therapists here at AWC can help. Call us today at (248) 413-5865 to learn more about how counseling can help your child and get started with a qualified clinician. 

References 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, March 8). Data and statistics on children’s Mental Health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html

How to spot signs of anxiety in children. Geisinger. (2020, October 12). https://www.geisinger.org/health-and-wellness/wellness-articles/2020/10/08/18/11/how-to-spot-signs-of-anxiety-in-children