What is anxiety?

All students feel anxious at times. Many young students, for example, show great distress when separated from their parents. Young students are often frightened of strangers, thunderstorms, or the dark. These are normal and usually short-liv

ed anxieties. But some students suffer from anxieties severe enough to interfere with the daily activities of childhood or adolescence.

Anxious students may lose friends and be left out of social activities. They often experience academic failure and low self-esteem. Because many students with this disorder are quiet and compliant, the signs are often missed. Teachers and parents should be aware of the signs of a possible anxiety disorder so that appropriate referrals can be made.

Signs of anxiety may present differently in children and adolescents than in adults. Common signs can include:

• Excessive and persistent worry
• Restlessness and irritability
• Crying or losing temper easily or frequently
• Avoidance and procrastination
• Disruption to sleep and eating patterns
• Decline in academic performance
• Truancy and school refusal
• Increased use of alcohol or other drugs
• Withdrawal from social, class or school activities
• Tiredness and fatigue

There are several types of anxiety disorders.  The list below describes those most common to children.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder —Children with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have recurring fears and worries that they find difficult to control.  They worry about almost everything—school, sports, being on time, even natural disasters.  They may be restless, irritable, tense, or easily tired, and they may have trouble concentrating or sleeping.  Students with GAD are usually eager to please others and may be “perfectionists”, dissatisfied with their own less-than-perfect performance.

Separation Anxiety Disorder —Students with separation anxiety disorder have intense anxiety about being away from home or caregivers that affects their ability to function socially and in school.  These students may have a great need to stay at home or be close to their parents.  Students with this disorder may worry excessively about their parents when they are apart from them.  When they are together, the student may cling to parents, refuse to go to school, or be afraid to sleep alone.  Repeated nightmares about separation and physical symptoms such as stomach-aches and headaches are also common in students with separation anxiety disorder.

Social Phobia —Social phobia usually emerges in the mid-teens and typically does not affect young students.  Adolescents with this disorder have a constant fear of social or performance situations such as speaking in class or eating in public.  This fear is often accompanied by physical symptoms such as sweating, blushing, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, or muscle tenseness.  Adolescents with this disorder typically respond to these feelings by avoiding the feared situation.  For example, they may stay home from school or avoid parties.  Young people with social phobia are often overly sensitive to criticism, have trouble being assertive, and suffer from low self-esteem.  Social phobia can be limited to specific situations, so the adolescent may fear dating and recreational events but be confident in academic and work situations.

Obsessive-compulsive Disorder —Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) typically begins in early childhood or adolescence.  Children with OCD have frequent and uncontrollable thoughts (called “obsessions”) and may perform routines or rituals (called “compulsions”) in an attempt to eliminate the thoughts.  Those with the disorder often repeat behaviours to avoid some imagined consequence.  For example, a compulsion common to people with OCD is excessive hand washing due to a fear of germs.  Other common compulsions include counting, repeating words silently, and rechecking completed tasks.  In the case of OCD, these obsessions and compulsions take up so much time that they interfere with daily living and cause a young person a great deal of anxiety.

Please note that the purpose of the information above is NOT to classify children according to a particular disorder. Rather this section simply aims to provide background information on Anxiety.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) refers to an ongoing reaction to trauma, and is commonly associated with reactions to experiences of war. However, PTSD is more common in children than frequently thought. The trauma may have occurred in an isolated event (e.g. the child being in a car accident) or through ongoing events (e.g. ongoing child abuse).