Child Anxiety: Symptoms
Can you, as an independent adult, remember the last time you felt anxious or tense? Maybe it was just yesterday, or even 10 minutes ago—but you managed it, because you’re a grown-up. How about the first time you felt that way? For most, it was a very long time ago, often in childhood. Today, as an adult, you have a big advantage: you can recognize, name, and explain to yourself what happened, whether it was anxiety, fear, or a lack of self-confidence. Children, however, can’t always name these feelings that trouble them and hinder their development. Still, a child sends SOS signals that an attentive adult can read to determine the level of the child’s anxiety.Psychologists say that, according to statistics, childhood anxiety is most commonly seen in boys under 12 and girls over 12. Boys are often preoccupied with fears related to violence or punishment, while girls worry more about their relationships with peers and parents, as they care deeply about what others think of them.
Symptoms:
To recognize if a child is suffering from anxiety, you need to observe them over time—on different days and in varying situations.
Advice:
Another tip for determining whether your child is anxious is to take our unique Parenting Mentor Test. This test will help you understand your child's level of anxiety and provide specific recommendations for improving their well-being.
Pay close attention to how your child behaves on weekdays and weekends, in the morning and evening, and around both family members and peers. If you notice symptoms of anxiety in most situations over a 4-week period, it’s important to take their condition seriously and consult a professional.
Typical Symptoms of Child Anxiety:
- The child often takes short, rapid breaths. If you recall how someone breathes when agitated, you’ll understand what this means. The underlying cause may be hidden, but their breathing can reveal anxiety.
- Frequent muscular tension in the shoulders, neck, jaw, and around the eyes. Their head may be sunk into their shoulders as if trying not to be noticed, avoiding attention they don’t expect to be positive.
- Troubled sleep. The child has difficulty falling asleep and sleeps restlessly, often complaining of nightmares.
- Becoming easily fatigued, accompanied by headaches, stomachaches, dizziness, and similar complaints.
- Poor appetite.
- Digestive problems.
- Usually has cold, clammy hands, and often sweats excessively when worried.
- Slips quietly out of rooms, trying not to be noticed.
- Walks hesitantly or sits on the edge of a chair, as if expecting to be told off for walking or sitting.
- Constant unease for various reasons—anxiety or fear that is often related less to the actual event, and more to worry about what might happen. For example, a child may feel anxious about an assignment before even knowing what it involves. The fear of not coping can outweigh their curiosity.
- In unfamiliar environments, the child almost always blushes and is very shy.
- Difficulty starting something new, such as assembling a puzzle or construction set, or hesitancy before reciting a poem—sometimes to the point of refusing.
- Poor concentration.
- Irritability and becoming upset easily.
- Harsh self-criticism combined with low self-esteem—the child may think of themselves as the worst, the silliest, the naughtiest, and so on.
- Noisy or sometimes disruptive behavior, aimed at getting attention. In reality, the child is seeking understanding and sympathy for their worries.
- Frequent fantasies about themselves, making up unreal adventures and expecting adults to believe them.
- Frequently asking adults for help, even when capable of handling the situation alone.
- Constantly seeking approval and praise from adults, and being very concerned about being liked.
At first, an anxious child may seem easy to teach. Often, such children are quiet and dependent on adult approval, eager to please and be liked. However, ‘helping’ an anxious child can be as challenging, or even more so, than working with a difficult child. Anxiety prevents children from adapting to society and increases their fear of expressing themselves positively.