Some people think of anxiety as a general feeling of present uneasiness, and worry as a concern about future events. Dictionaries list anxiety and worry as synonyms, and we will use these words interchangeably. Anxious/worry means distress, brooding, apprehensiveness, and uneasiness about impending or anticipated problems or pain. The infant's feeling of security is very tenuous. Sudden noise or events scares him. By age 3, children show anxiety about physical harm, loss of parental love, being different, or not being able to cope with events. In early childhood, anxieties about imaginary dangers are very common. The height of anxiety occurs between 2 and 6 years of age. Anxious feelings occur when real or imaginary danger is thought about. The negative, agitated sensations feel the same to the child whether they worry about realistic or imaginary possibilities. Symptoms of anxiety include agitation, crying, screaming, pacing, obsessive thinking, insomnia, nightmares, poor eating, sweating, butterflies in the stomach, nausea, breathing difficulties, and tics.
Anxious children are often easily frightened and appear to look for things to worry about. They often feel ill at ease, apprehensive, and overtly anxious about everyday situations that others are unconcerned about. Highly anxious children are often less popular, creative, and flexible than others. They are more suggestible, indecisive, cautious, and rigid. Their self-concept is relatively poor, and they often feel more dependent on adults. Anger at others is usually not expressed openly. Strikingly, highly anxious elementary and secondary school children score lower on intelligence and achievement tests. The implication is that anxiety interferes with their ability to function efficiently. Worry often leads to a vicious cycle. Tension is increased and unpleasant facts are often denied. Instead of seeking alternative solutions, the individual becomes paralyzed by worry.
Young children view parents as providing security and protection from danger. The developing ability to cope with and tolerate anxiety is set during these early experiences. Great anxiety is caused by early separation from parents. Loss of parental love is a continuing possible source of anxiety in children. In adolescence, identity problems cause great anxiety. Early adolescence often brings a number of anxiety symptoms such as nervousness, headaches, loss of appetite, upset stomach, and trouble sleeping.
Reasons Why
Insecurity
The chief cause of anxiety is lack of an inner secure feeling. A pattern of chronic worry is set up because the child feels a general lack of safety and is filled with self-doubts. Worry can be projected on and connected with anything. The main contributions to childhood are listed below.
Inconsistency. Parent or teacher inconsistency promotes confusion and anxiety in children. Life becomes an unpredictable and scary series of events. More vulnerable children are most likely to become very anxious when treated inconsistently. Children who are constitutionally more easy going and placid are more able to tolerate a lack of consistency. Typically, one parent expects one thing and the other expects the opposite. Children literally become caught in the middle. When there are several children, one child may be the target and become extremely anxious. High anxiety can also occur because of the school environment. A teacher an add still another element of inconsistency. In fact, any significant adult may alone give strong inconsistent and confusing messages to children.
Perfectionism. Adult expectations of perfection directly lead to anxious reactions in a significant number of children. Very high achieving, uncaring, or easy-going children may escape the anxiety of not fulfilling the adult's expectations. Others develop tension and worry about not doing well enough. The standards are too high and adults never seem satisfied.
Permissiveness or Neglect. Children often feel insecure when there are no clearly defined limits. Lacking a reservoir of confidence and experience, many children feel lost and abandoned. They lack guidelines of behavior that will please others and themselves. Often, these children appear to be seeking limits from adults. Some act as if they desired to be punished as a means of finding some clear reaction from adults.
Criticism. A diet of intense criticism from adults or peers leads to tension and worry. Children feel self-doubts and begin to anticipate criticism. Any type of self-exposure may bring on serious anxiety, especially if children know that they are being evaluated or judged in some way. Speaking or performing before others, taking tests, or playing a game can trigger off anxiety.
Adult Confidant. Some adults confide in children as if they were adults. The premature burdening of children is likely to produce anxiety. Most children (whatever their age) do not have the maturity to keep problems in perspective. When children are told about parental financial, sexual, or social problems, they often being to worry about the future. They inappropriately feel burdened, as if they should be doing something to help. A particularly vulnerable situation exists in one-parent families, where that parent does not have an adult friend or relative to confide in. That single parent may share all these feelings with a child and inadvertently burden the child with unnecessary concerns. Even very bright children can feel emotionally overwhelmed and confused by adult problems.
Guilt
Children feel very anxious when they believe they have behaved badly. Particularly destructive is a pattern where they feel a general sense of not doing the right thing. From age 2 to 6 years, imagination is strong but distinguishing reality from family is weak. This period is likely to produce worried children who anticipate punishment for being bad or for thinking bad thoughts. Some children become intensely anxious because they fantasize killing or torturing others. They have not learned the normalcy of negative thoughts and the difference between thinking and doing.
A pattern develops where children worry, become less active, and then feel guilty about their inactivity. This is the procrastinating child, who worries instead of doing. They get no place, and their energy is drained by worry. Other children react to guilt by becoming overly active. They feel ill at ease unless they're doing something.
Parent Modeling
Anxious parents very frequently have anxious children. Children learn how to worry and look for danger around every corner. They observe parents who handle most situations with much tension and concern. Adults are seen becoming tense when planning trips, preparing for events, discussing the future, etc. The atmosphere is filled with concern about what might happen as compared to a relatively relaxed and optimistic outlook. Defensive or emotionally guarded parents can produce a similar reaction. Children easily imagine the worst when they see their parents' protective approach.. If parents can't be openly emotionally responsive, children imagine that there must be a serious reason for their guardedness.
Excessive Frustration
Too much frustration causes anger and anxiety. Children are frequently unable to express anger because of their dependency upon adults and therefore experience heightened anxiety. Frustration stems from many sources. Children feel unable to reach a variety of goals. They may perceive themselves as not doing well enough in school, with friends, with siblings, or with adults. It may be that the goals are too high or that anxious children do not apply themselves well enough. The continued feeling of not doing well enough lays the groundwork for a great deals of anxiety. A vicious cycle develops: frustration-anxiety-indecisiveness-hopelessness-worry. The chronic worrier has a habit of worrying, and problems do not get solved. "When my problem is over, I'll stop worrying." Instead of taking action, the child thinks too much. Frustration and tension increase, and the child feels helpless.
- How to Prevent and Case Report
- What to Do
- Behavior Problems of Children
- Immature Behaviors
- Insecure Behaviors
- Habit Disorders
- Peer Problems
- Antisocial Behaviors
- Other Problems
