Anxieties and fears in children

Anxiety is a common phenomenon among adults, teens and even children. Anxiety among children is a kind of extreme fear, which affects the child’s conduct in terms of his life frameworks – mainly social and educational.

Children may develop anxiety at times, in cases they do not know how to deal with such as war or the loss of a loved one. Also, there are anxieties that are more likely to develop in children such as: abandonment anxiety, social anxiety or test anxiety. It is necessary to examine carefully and distinguish whether this is a developmental stage accompanied by a natural and moderate fear or whether it is an anxiety that deviates from the norm and requires special treatment and attention. In each case, we have seized it, despite obstacles we can scarcely imagine. ”

Children experience fears and anxieties. The usual expression in childhood is – fear, but it does not always suit the situation. Deep and extreme fear, existential fear and its effect on normal behavior or daily life depending on the person’s age, is not defined correctly, as these signs indicate anxiety. Anxiety and fear in children are also affected by parental intervention: the explanations they may give the child about reality and their support for it, can reduce the level of anxiety and change its attitude towards the trigger. It is important to diagnose anxiety and its causes especially in children, as early diagnosis may save a child from a future complication of the phenomenon and its exacerbation.

Symptoms of anxiety in children

Naturally, children are less verbal than adults and often do not know how to define what they are experiencing, so one can pay attention to the physical symptoms they develop and identify a state of mental distress through them. Here are the main complaints of children experiencing anxiety:

• Impairment of daily functioning  –  in the study routine or social life.
• Behavioral change  –  such as changing eating habits (starvation or overeating) or difficulty sleeping – do not fall asleep easily, are preoccupied with sleep and dream “bad dreams”, often wake up or cry from sleep, nocturnal urination.
• Adherence to parents  –  not willing to stay away from parents and it is important for them to be in constant contact with them.
• Extreme Behavioral Changes  –  Outbursts of anger, crying, anger, prolonged sadness, violence.
• Difficulty concentrating and restlessness.
• The child is easily alert and frightened by environmental stimuli such as movements or noises.

Anxiety factors in children

Any change in a child’s life may lead him to a certain anxiety. Moving and leaving the safe and protected parental home to kindergarten, school, any class or even when a parent leaves work and the child stays in it, moving house or new babysitter and more, all these are triggers that may trigger in the child fears quite naturally, but here One has to point the finger at the difference between natural fear and anxiety, and extreme anxieties and traumas.

In Israel, there is another prominent factor in the form of the security situation.

Many children in the country experience fears and anxieties due to an unusual security situation, which takes them out of inner peace and provokes extreme behavior, which is affected by their tense mental state. Such children may respond with anxiety attacks during sudden shifts or abnormal noises. Children of parents who experience depression or anxiety attacks, may be affected by their parents’ condition and duplicate their behavior, so it is important to be vigilant about the behavior and what is said to the children.