Anxiety disorder in children; Anxiety / Anxiety can be defined as an individual's feeling of inadequacy in a threatening environment, a state of restlessness or inner distress caused by fear, an unpleasant emotional state and a reaction to possible dangers that may come. While fear is experienced against a situation that everyone considers dangerous, anxiety is an emotion that the person himself produces.
The cause of anxiety disorders in children may be different for most people. Some psychologists say that there is a difference between fear and anxiety in terms of source, intensity and duration. We know the source of fear, but the source of anxiety is unclear. Fear is more intense and of shorter duration than anxiety. But anxiety lasts for a long time.
It is a kind of emotional preparation for survival. It is a kind of alarm feeling that threatens or is perceived as a threat to life. Individuals ignore, deny, deny, deny the situations that cause them pain, cut off internal and external contact and resort to defense mechanisms. Unresolved problems that are repressed and pushed out of consciousness cause the person to be anxious, worried and anxious even in ordinary situations.
Although there is no single cause for anxiety disorder in children, there are many factors that cause anxiety. He states that many factors such as stress, feeling helpless, feeling threatened cause anxiety. He says that the causes of anxiety may also change according to the way people perceive the environment, and that a safe and peaceful environment for one person may be a cause of anxiety for another. However, the causes of anxiety, which are still valid for all societies, can be roughly analyzed under four main headings: internal conflict, withdrawal of support, uncertainty and waiting for a negative outcome.
Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder in Children
Symptoms of anxiety disorder in children;
- Irritability in mood,
- Restlessness,
- Focusing problems with distraction,
- Intolerance and tension are observed
- Physiologically, differences in heartbeat, chemical structure of the blood, Galvanic Skin Reaction, breathing rate, muscle tension in the neck and shoulder muscles, sweating, palms being constantly cold or hot, changes in gastrointestinal movements, difficulty swallowing, nausea, constant headache, reluctance to activities, flushing and heart palpitations are observed.
- In order to determine whether anxiety is a disease or a problem, attention should be paid to its severity, the fact that it starts to affect the flow of daily life and disrupts functionality.
Anxiety disorder in children ranks first among the most common mental disorders in childhood, with a prevalence rate ranging from 8.6% to 17.7%. Due to its physiological, emotional, cognitive and behavioral effects, all types of anxiety disorders have a negative impact on children's functioning and, if left untreated, have negative consequences especially in the areas of family, friends and school.
Anxiety disorder in children has its roots in childhood experiences, which are said to be influenced by the child's relationships with his/her parents and teachers, as well as with peers. Rejecting and humiliating attitudes cause children to create an anxious attitude, and later in adolescence, cynical attitudes that continue in adolescence cause anxiety to move to destructive dimensions.
Anxiety disorder in children, the attitude of the teacher is as important as the attitude of the parents in the process of anxiety in childhood. Expecting the child to fulfill developmental tasks that are beyond the child's power and forcing the child to do so, using reward and punishment management inappropriately, being the wrong role model and wrong parental attitudes are serious factors that pave the way for anxiety.
Anxiety disorders in children, anxiety disorders in children and adolescents are as follows: anxiety about sobering up, broadcast anxiety disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic or acute stress disorder. All anxiety disorders in children and adolescents can cause impairments in school performance and interpersonal functioning, and these negative effects are associated with problems observed in adult life.