Child Anxiety Attacks
February 25, 2010 by admin
Filed under Anxiety Attacks, Featured, Panic Attack Tips
Like adults children also experience anxiety, fear and apprehension. All these are normal emotion which any person can feels irrespective of age. Even then, if anxiety becomes severe, recurring and irrational or if anxiety attacks happen without any proper reason and the reaction is not proportionate then it may be a cause of concern. So when you notice any thing abnormal behavior of your child then get him or her proper diagnosis by a health professional to rule out any possibility of disorder and in case if it exist then determine the proper treatment to be undertaken.
Since anxiety attack is a type of anxiety disorder, it is important to know what happens to a child who is suffering from such disorder. To be able to identify it, here are the following symptoms:
• Overly shy and difficulty making friends
• Tantrums and excessive crying
• Frequent feeling of fear and panic
• Low self-esteem, lack of confidence
• Nightmares and night terrors
• Bed wetting
• Fear of getting embarrassed
• Resistance to any change
• Avoidance of certain activities such as school event and summer camps
• Fear of making mistakes
• Compulsive behaviors
• Chronic physical symptoms such as stomach aches or headaches without any apparent reason
A child is under an anxiety attack if he shows the following symptoms:
• Chest pain or heart palpitation
• Shaking or trembling
• Hot flashes or chills
• Feeling unreal or detach
• Feeling like passing out
• Trouble breathing or choking sensation
• Hyperventilation
• Feeling of loosing control or going crazy
• Feeling and fear of dying
• Nausea or stomach cramps
• Gush of overwhelming panic
Different children of different ages or even of the same age may manifest different symptoms. Moreover, some of the symptoms given may be considered as a normal behavior of a child. Thus it is a bit tricky to determine if he or she is really having an attack or not. What should be done is to recognize these symptoms and consider them as a reason of concern, and then help your child deal with these symptoms through the following:
Seek help from health professional – Effectively stopping anxiety attacks begins with recognition and followed by a compete diagnosis from your medical doctor. A full medical examination should be administered in order to rule out any other physical causes unrelated to anxiety.
Doctors usually give prescription medications to help relieve anxiety. If applicable, SSRI antidepressants may be needed for a long term solution. For a more severe case, doctors may refer the child to a psychologist.
Self-help techniques – Parents may seek the help of books available for treating child anxiety. This is also very effective in teaching parents strategies for responsible parenting, which improve parent-child relationship and help build child self-confidence and self-esteem.
Play therapy – is the child version of exposure therapy. As an effective child anxiety treatment, play therapy uses the power of play to simulate each fearful situation in a controlled environment, which then helps the child face the problem and come up with a solution.
Herbal medicines – is proven and effective means of treating anxiety attacks and other types of anxiety disorder. Some of the commonly recommended remedies include Melissa officinalis, passionflower, California poppy, hypericum perforatum (St. John’s Wort), scuttelaria laterifolia (scullcap), valerian, lavender and hops.
