Anxiety Treatment for Your Child In Lawrenceville, GA
While it’s natural for everyone to experience worry including children, children with anxiety experience excessive and extreme worry that affect their daily lives. Anxiety can make it difficult for your child to feel relaxed and at ease. They may fear failing an exam or they may not be able to sleep because their anxiety keeps them up at night. If your child’s excessive worry is affecting their schoolwork, friendships or home life, then team at Pediatric Associates of Lawrenceville is here to help.
There are different forms of anxiety,
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
- Social anxiety disorder (or social phobia)
- Separation anxiety disorder
- Phobias
Certain types of anxiety such as separation anxiety may be visible in children as young as 18 months old while other forms of anxiety such as social phobia may not be noticeable until your child goes to school. Some signs that your child could have anxiety include,
- They are often nervous or fidgety
- They are excessively or unusually clingy
- They cry or throw tantrums
- They are dealing with stomach issues
- They seem angrier or more irritable than use
- They experience nightmares or have trouble sleeping
- They can’t concentrate on schoolwork
- They don’t have an appetite
How to Address Childhood Anxiety
First, it’s important to recognize that your child is anxious and to provide them with lots of support and compassion. It’s important not to ignore these symptoms or the experiences your child is having, especially if they are willing to share their concerns. In fact, open communication with your child and the whole family about anxieties and fears is incredibly important and can go a long way to helping your child.
While some anxieties may go away with time, it may be time to consult one of our pediatricians if,
- Your child’s anxieties and fears don’t go away or seem to be getting worse
- Self-care and strategies you’ve been following just aren’t helping
- Your child’s academic performance and personal life are impacted by their anxieties
The best place to begin is a pediatrician’s office. Our pediatricians can talk to your child about what they are experiencing and can then provide appropriate referrals so your child can be proper assessed by a mental health professional. Of course, your pediatrician really gets to know your child’s health from the very beginning, so they can also rule out certain medical conditions such as heart valve problems that could be causing these symptoms or making symptoms worse.
