Transcript Anxiety in children - rightsolutioncounseling.com

Anxiety in children
Kolleen L. Simons, MSW, LCSW
The Right Solution
Kolleen L. Simons
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Owner, The Right Solution Counseling Service
15+ years of experience
Experience working with children and adults
Specializing in depression and anxiety
About us…
• The Right Solution Counseling
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Located in Eureka
Work with children and adults
Tutoring services – ACT test prep
Teen group for High school Girls
What is Anxiety?
• Some anxiety and worry is normal.
• These normal amounts of anxiety can actually
help you respond to threats and feel motivated to
get things done.
• An anxiety disorder can prevent your child from
making friends, raising a hand in class, or
participating in school or social activities.
Feelings of being ashamed, afraid, and alone are
not uncommon.
Anxiety in children
• Anxiety is the most common type of childhood disorder with
a prevalence rates ranging from 6%-20%.
• Childhood anxiety: What is normal and what is not. Anxiety
becomes a clinical disorder when:
– 1) the child avoids age-appropriate activities,
– 2) it interferes with developmentally appropriate
functioning or challenges (playing with others or
academic performance),
– 3) it causes the child and/or family a considerable
amount of distress, and/or
– 4) when the child experiences impairing anxiety over a
long period of time.
Vidair & Rynn. (2010). Anxiety Disorders: Theory, research and clinical perspectives. New York: Cambridge
University Press. Chapter 27: Childhood anxiety disorders: Best treatment options and practice.
Anxiety in Children
• Research suggest approximately 5% to 18% of
children suffer from an anxiety disorder.
• In general, anxiety disorders can begin at any
age.
• Children will demonstrate their anxiety in a
number of ways.
• The younger a child, the less their ability to
identify anxiety or fear. Behavioral expression is
usually seen when a child feels fear and anxiety
and cannot find relief.
Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute. (2012). Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Retrieved April 20, 2012 from,
http://www.slbmi.com/anxiety_center/childhood_ anxiety_disorders.htm
Anxiety in Children
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is diagnosed when a person
worries excessively about a variety of everyday problems for at
least 6 months.
If your child has generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, he or she
will worry excessively about a variety of things, which may include
but are not limited to these issues:
Family problems
Relationships with peers
Natural disasters
Health
Grades
Performance in sports
Punctuality
Anxiety in Children
• Children with GAD tend to be very hard on
themselves and they strive for perfection.
• These children may also seek constant approval
or reassurance from others, even when they
appear not to have any worries.
Anxiety
• GAD affects about 6.8 million American adults,
including twice as many women as men. The
disorder develops gradually and can begin at any
point in the life cycle, although the years of
highest risk are between childhood and middle
age.
Signs and Symptoms of Anxiety
Emotional symptoms of anxiety
• Feelings of apprehension or dread
• Trouble concentrating
• Feeling tense and jumpy
• Anticipating the worst
• Irritability
• Restlessness
• Watching for signs of danger
• Feeling like your mind’s gone blank
Physical symptoms of Anxiety
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Pounding heart
Sweating
Stomach upset or dizziness
Frequent urination or diarrhea
Shortness of breath
Tremors and twitches
Muscle tension
Headaches
Fatigue
Insomnia
Anxiety in School
• An anxiety disorder can prevent your child from
making friends, raising a hand in class, or
participating in school or social activities.
• Feelings of being ashamed, afraid, and alone are
not uncommon.
What is an Anxiety attack?
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Surge of overwhelming panic
Feeling of losing control or going crazy
Heart palpitations or chest pain
Feeling like you’re going to pass out
Trouble breathing or choking sensation
Hyperventilation
Hot flashes or chills
Trembling or shaking
Nausea or stomach cramps
Feeling detached or unreal
What causes an anxiety attack?
• Playing the ‘what if’ game – negative self talk
which sets us up for failure
• Poor self esteem – thinking not worthy
• Too much pressure to be perfect
• Focusing too much on self vs. others
• Eating poorly – too much caffeine
• Not exercising
• Full exposure to phobias
• Holding in feelings
Link between Anxiety and
Depression
• Anxiety and depression are believed to stem from the same
biological vulnerability
• Often go hand in hand
• Depression can make anxiety worse (and vice/versa)
• Important to recognize both conditions
• When symptoms last for a short period of time, it may be a
passing case of “the blues.” But if they last for more than
two weeks and interfere with regular daily activities and
family and school life, your child may have a depressive
disorder.
• Depression and anxiety disorders can often be treated the
same way and at the same time.
Link between Anxiety and
Depression
Children with depression may display these
symptoms:
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Depressed or irritable mood
Difficulty sleeping or concentrating
Change in grades, getting into trouble at school, or refusing to go to school
Change in eating habits
Feeling angry or irritable
Mood swings
Feeling worthless or restless
Frequent sadness or crying
Withdrawing from friends and activities
Loss of energy
Low self-esteem
Thoughts of death or suicide
Anxiety and Depression Association of America
What can you do to help your child
Show your child how to be successful
• Show your child how to successfully approach
and cope with anxious situations. Model success.
Understand that your child has a problem
• Remember that your child is not being willfully
naughty or difficult. They have a problem and
need your help.
Materials and Worksheets from Anxiety by Paul Stallard published by
Routledge
Strategies - SUPPORT your child
Patient approach
• Don’t expect things to change quickly. Be patient
and encourage your child to keep trying.
Prompt new skills
• Encourage and remind your child to practice and
use their new skills.
Observe your child
• Watch your child and highlight the positive or
successful things they do.
Reward and praise their efforts
• Remember to praise and reward your child for
using their new skills and for trying to face and
overcome their problems.
Keep talking…
Talk about it
• Talking with your child shows them that you care
and will help them feel supported
• SUPPORT your child and help them to overcome
their problems.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is based on the idea that
how we feel and what we do are due to the way we think.
• CBT is one of the most effective ways of helping children
with anxiety problems, and looks at the link between the
way we THINK, what we DO and how we FEEL.
• CBT assumes that a lot of anxiety problems are related to
the way we think. Because we can change the way we
think, we can learn to control our anxious feelings.
• Thinking in more positive ways can help us feel good.
• Thinking in more negative ways may make us feel fearful,
tense, sad, angry or uncomfortable.
Example about how to talk to your
child…
• What are thoughts? Thoughts are the ideas we
have in our heads (what our brains tell us).
Sometimes we say things to ourselves in our
heads (not out loud), and these are also thoughts.
For example, you might think, “I did a great job on
my homework.” Can you think of some other
thoughts?
Action
• What are actions? Actions are the things we do
with our bodies!
• For example, we walk, dance, talk, draw, laugh,
cry, etc. Can you name some other actions?
Feelings…
• What are feelings? Feelings are the emotions
and sensations we have in our bodies and hearts
(you already know a lot about feelings!).
• Feelings/matching game
• How do you stop a bad thought?
– See handout about stopping a bad song in your head
Writing down the thoughts/fears
Imagine Your Negative Thoughts Are in a Cage
In the space below, write your worst negative
thought.
Now draw a cage around this thought, and keep
adding bars until you can’t read it anymore.
Therapy….
• Teaching practical techniques to reframe negative
thinking
• Work through the root of the mood disorder
• Help understand the reasons that you feel a
certain way, what are YOUR triggers
What about you?
• Be a good healthy, role model for your child
• What messages are you sending to your child
• What if YOU have anxiety
– Do you tell your child
– Do you tell them about your treatment
The Right Solution Counseling
Service
• Accept all ages
• Will accept insurance – offer sliding scale for
those without
For more information:
RightSolutionCounseling.com
314-374-1620