Anxiety disorder (Anxiety); When we walk down a deserted street late at night, our sense of anxiety protects us and guides us home quickly. The anxiety experienced here is a functional anxiety that protects us. However, in the daytime, in an environment where everyone is around, feeling anxious just like at night and going home immediately may be a dysfunctional anxiety.
What is Anxiety Disorder in Children?
Anxiety disorder in children (Anxiety); To give another example, the example of a fire alarm explains anxiety disorders very well. Fire alarms are a mechanism that warns and protects people when a fire breaks out and are expected to signal only in case of fire. However, if the fire alarm system is broken, it starts to signal against all kinds of factors and misleads people. Anxiety disorders can be likened to this situation. While anxiety on the spot protects us, intense anxiety when there is no threat constantly misleads us and causes us to cope incorrectly. Anxiety disorder (Anxiety), which is frequently seen in adults, is also encountered in childhood. Just like in adults, we see that children sometimes experience intense anxiety/fear of a certain situation and choose inappropriate methods to cope with it.
What are the Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder in Children?
Each of the symptoms of anxiety disorder in children is unique. What they basically have in common is the child's intense anxiety about certain situations compared to their peers and the dysfunctional coping methods they use to manage this anxiety.
Common anxieties in childhood are as follows.
1. Separation Anxiety: In separation anxiety, the child experiences intense anxiety about separation from the caregiver. He/she usually carries thoughts that he/she will not see his/her caregiver again and that something will happen to him/her or them. Accordingly, he/she does not want to separate from his/her caregiver. In cases of forced separation, they experience intense anxiety, cry or become withdrawn.
2.Social Anxiety: In social anxiety, the child is extremely anxious about staying in contact with peers, especially about performing any kind of performance among peers. He/she usually avoids such situations. These children are often described by class teachers as quiet and low-involvement children. They often avoid raising their fingers in class, making presentations, taking part in games, and expressing their own opinions.
3. Generalized Anxiety: In generalized anxiety, the child is constantly worried not about a specific subject but about many subjects. They can immediately become anxious about many things they hear on the news or hear from their friends. They are sensitive to every negative situation. Children with this anxiety disorder (Anxiety) often have anxiety about their own health and the health of their parents.
4. Specific Phobias: In specific phobias, the child experiences intense anxiety only against a specific object or situation and constantly avoids encountering that situation or object.
How is Anxiety Disorder Treated?
The best school of therapy proven to be effective in the treatment of anxiety disorder is cognitive behavioral therapy.
In the treatment ofanxiety disorder (Anxiety), after a sufficient cooperation and trust relationship is established between the therapist and the child, the object of anxiety is compared with the situation and the child is not allowed to use the dysfunctional coping methods previously used. Anxiety disorder (Anxiety), this method, which is popularly called "exposure", can actually be called a kind of confrontation with what is of concern. Exposure is a more passive and traumatic definition. Confrontation, on the other hand, is a method that is done gradually, at the request of the child and accompanied by an expert. This is a very delicate method, and its use by non-specialists can have lasting effects on the child.
In the treatment ofanxiety, families should be very inclusive and understanding when their children talk about their anxiety. They should not criticize their children with anxiety disorder (Anxiety) about their anxieties and should encourage them to express their feelings. Especially in the cognitive-behavioral school of therapy, mothers and fathers become the therapists' assistants and, if necessary, help the child to do at home what is done in the psychotherapy session.
