Anxiety Disorders In Children - What Parents Should Do If This Effects Their Kids

Anxiety disorders in children are becoming a wide-spread problem not only here in the US, but across the entire globe. Adults worldwide feel the high level of stress and anxiety, sometimes completely helpless because of their circumstances. The economic downturn, loss of jobs, recent violent weather and other factors has negatively affected millions of people, (adults who are the head of the households) across the world. If even for different reasons, it is well know that many millions of children have also been afflicted with this same mental disorder which has intruded negatively into their lives.

Back before the end of the 20th century, by publicly displaying signs of stress and anxiety the common thought was that children were just acting out. If the behavior occurred in the home, well then the parent could just hand out punishment; send the child to his/her room, take away the favorite dessert after dinner, or deny him/her an activity that was enjoyable. If the behavior took place in school the teacher could hand out discipline in the form of being kept after school (we used to call them detentions), denial of a recess period, or if the behavior was truly bad a trip to the principals office. The problem was that all of these attempts at discipline only treated the symptoms of the behavior. They did not address the root cause of why a child acted out due to the level of agitation that existed within him/her.

If the child continued exhibiting signs of agitation in the home or school, parents soon turned to their physicians seeking help. The problem then was that these medical experts too often felt that prescription medication would be the answer in controlling a childs behavior. Statistically, more and more kids showed up to school with their symptoms masked by the pills that they were forced to take daily to control this behavior. Once again in these cases the symptoms of the childrens behavior were being temporarily controlled; however the trigger or root cause for the disorder that was affecting them were not addressed at all.

As an individual who once was afflicted with this type of disorder some fifteen years ago following a traumatic event in my life, please allow me to make what I feel is a strong statement to parents. Prescription medication is not going to get to the root cause for your childs behavior. Neither will sending your child to bed early, taking away the PlayStation III, or, (and Im loathe to bring this up but it is still very much a part of many family settings) corporal punishment help provide an answer to what he/she is experiencing. Regarding the latter, its been statistically proven that kids who endure a lot of physical abuse and corporal punishment by their parents as youths, later grow up themselves to inflict the same type of discipline on their own children.

Instead, you need to figure out what is causing the condition of anxiety and stress which is taking place inside your child. Choosing to enlist the help of a qualified medical specialist in the field of psychiatry or psychology would be a positive step. It is my unwavering hope, however that the specialist does not then prescribe medication over the long term to try and eliminate this disorder. Popping pills daily, whether the individual is 7 or 70 is not the permanent solution. Any medication taken daily can often have side effects, sometimes addictive. I would go so far as suggesting you get a second opinion should the initial specialist that you consult, in his/her opinion, insist that medication be the prime solution at solving your childs disorder.

Whatever is the trigger for your childs agitated behavior the best solutions in controlling this would be the adaptation of behavioral modification and relaxation techniques into his/her daily routine. Make time for your child no matter how busy your daily schedule. The mental health of your child should be your first priority. Being a positive role model for your child should also be of prime importance.

If your child is of the age where he/she watches cartoons, sometimes containing violent graphics within the themes, here would be the following very simplistic suggestion. Do not allow your child to watch that television program. The violence seen in some cartoon programs will only serve to effect and negatively reinforce the thinking that is already going on inside your childs head. As a parent, you need to monitor your childs television watching activities. If the program itself contains a lot of graphic violence please understand that it would not be in your childs best interests to continue watching it no matter how funny or entertained your child is by viewing such a cartoon/program.

If your child has difficulty interacting with other kids, reacting in a harmful threatening way towards them, it would be your job to teach him/her that it is wrong to act aggressively towards others. Do not act out aggressively towards the child yourself, with some form of physical punishment. Calmly and quietly talk to your child about the necessity that he/she respect other kids and that any physical violence is absolutely unacceptable. You would then want to reward and praise your child when he/she exhibits positive behavior while playing with other children.