Understanding Anxiety Through a Child’s Eyes
Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes PhD, LPC-MHSP, LMHC
Executive Director, AllCEUs Counselor Education
Purchase CEUs at:
https://www.allceus.com/member/cart/index/product/id/1033/c/
Host: Counselor Toolbox Podcast
Objectives
~ Identify symptoms of anxiety in children
~ Review common misdiagnoses
~ Explain how children’s developmental stage impacts their fears
~ Propose interventions to help children deal with anxiety
Symptoms of Anxiety in Children
~ Emotional Signs of Anxiety
~ Is extremely sensitive
~ Irritable
~ Is afraid of making even minor mistakes including test anxiety
~ Panic attacks
~ Has phobias (about bees, dogs, etc.) and exaggerated fears (about things like natural disasters, etc.)
~ Worries about things that are far in the future
~ Has frequent nightmares
~ Gets distracted from playing by his worries
~ Has compulsive, repetitive behaviors
Symptoms of Anxiety in Children
~ Behavioral Signs of Anxiety
~ Starts having meltdowns or tantrums.
~ Asks “what if?” constantly.
~ Avoids participating in group activities.
~ Remains silent or preoccupied during group work
~ Refuses to go to school.
~ Avoids social situations with peers after school or on weekends
~ Becomes emotional or angry when separated from parents
~ Constantly seeks approval
~ Low self-esteem and efficacy
~ Overly concerned about negative evaluations
Symptoms of Anxiety in Children
~ Physical Signs of Anxiety
~ Frequently complains of head or stomachaches
~ Refuses to eat snacks or lunch at school
~ Can become restless, fidgety, hyperactive
~ Difficulty concentrating
~ Starts to shake or sweat in intimidating situations.
~ Dizziness
~ Frequent urge to urinate
~ Constantly tenses muscles
~ Exaggerated startle response
~ Has trouble falling or staying asleep
~ Falls asleep in school
~ Repetitive activities (tapping, leg shaking…)
~ Nail biting / skin picking
~ Rigid routines
Not Little Adults
~ How do children think differently
~ 0-2: Object permanence; personal agency (crying, “Uh Oh,” Ask for drinks)
~ When you are overtired, startled, too hot/cold, or have low blood sugar, the HPA-Axis is activated  Threat Response (Anxiety)
~ 2-7: Egocentric, personalized, concrete/dichotomous, mystical
~ Daddy yelled at me. Daddy left. Daddy hates me. It is my fault.
~ I told Mommy I hated her. She got sick. It is my fault.
~ I didn’t say my prayers last night. We got into a car accident because God is mad at me.
~ The neighbor’s dog always charges the fence and wants to bite me. This makes me scared. Dogs are dangerous.
Not Little Adults
~ How do children think differently
~ 7-11: Inductive (Start making global attributions from specifics)
~ I didn’t make the team. I got a C on my spelling test. I must be a failure
~ 11+: More advanced reasoning but little life experience and often have not questioned prior faulty schema
What is Anxiety
~ Anxiety is fear which is the flee part of the fight or flight (stress) response
~ What do we/children fear
~ Death (Biological Needs/Safety(self & others))
~ Rejection/Isolation/Abandonment (Biological Needs, Safety, Love and Belonging)
~ The Unknown (Biological Needs, Safety, Love)
~ Loss of Control (Parental, older children)
What is Causing the Anxiety
~ Cognitive
~ Unhelpful thoughts
~ Lack of knowledge
~ Physical
~ Lack of sleep
~ Poor nutrition or hunger
~ Hormones (sex, thyroid)
~ Emotional
~ Highly sensitive child
~ Environmental/social
~ Bullies
~ Teacher pressure
~ Parental enmeshment or