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Anxiety in Children

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CHILD ANXIETY 1

Child Anxiety
Jeremy L. Hoellein
September 30, 2012
Bellevue University

CHILD ANXIETY 2
Child Anxiety When discussing anxiety in children, there are three main anxiety disorders that are unique to children alone. These disorders are separation anxiety, selective mutism, and reactive attachment disorder. While anxiety can be seen as a normal part of childhood and learning to adapt to new surroundings and situations, for some children, this anxiety can be persistent and intense. Furthermore, this persistent anxiety can lead to interfering with the child's ability to make new friends, trouble in school, and trouble with sleeping. Separation anxiety can occur in a child when a parent or caregiver leaves the room or even when they are dropping their child off to a daycare or preschool environment. Most of the time, separation anxiety will diminish the more the child gets acclimated to their new surroundings and environment. If separation anxiety persists, the child may also have fears of something bad happening to their parents while they are not around. Symptoms of separation anxiety include: excessive distress when separated from a caregiver, nightmares, reluctance to go to school or go to sleep without the caregiver nearby, and repeated physical complaints (Stafford, Boris, & Dalton, 2007). Generally there are no tests for this condition because some separation anxiety is normal in all children, but a doctor should be consulted if the anxiety persists after the age of two. Some treatments that may be helpful are anti-anxiety medications, changes in parenting techniques, and individual or family therapy. If the separation anxiety is still

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