Your Concerns about Worries or Fears, Preschool

You said your child worries a lot or has certain fears. Your child's worries are bad enough to make him/her upset. These worries are not leading to any major problems for him/her right now. Some children with more severe fears or worries than your child have an Anxiety Disorder.

Your child may do one or more of the following things:

• Gets upset (cries, screams) when you leave him/her
• Has problems falling asleep or wakes in the middle of the night
• Clings to you and seems worried, even when you are not going to leave him/her

Your child may have some of the following types of fears or worries:

• Fear of animals (i.e., dogs, insects)
• Fear of natural disasters (i.e., tornadoes, thunderstorms, floods)
• Fear of medical care (i.e., shots, doctors)
• Fear of attending school or going on class trips
• Fear of spending time away from parents/home (i.e., going to sleepovers)
• Fear of talking to or meeting new people
• Fear of talking or performing in front of a group of people
• Worries about the future
• Worries about being the center of attention (with peers or at home)

One way to know if your child is anxious to is to watch for some common signs. These include:

• Racing heart
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating
• Suddenly feeling as if they are choking
• Nausea
• Chest Pain
• Frequent stomachaches, headaches, or other aches/pains
• Sleep problems (i.e., trouble falling asleep or frequent nightmares)

Your child may be worrying because something upsetting is going on around him/her. Common events that upset children include:

• Having an ill or dying parent
• Parent separation or divorce
• Birth of a new sibling
• Problems at school
• Problems with friends

If your child is worrying and seems particularly stressed you may notice the some of the following things:

• S/he's overly active and difficult to calm down
• S/he repeatedly acts out the stressful event through play
• S/he doesn't want to be around other children

You should be aware of warning signs that your child's worries or fears are getting worse. These include:

• Fears become so strong that your child cannot go about his/her daily activities (e.g. doesn't want to go to preschool/kindergarten, avoids friends, has problems falling asleep)
• Sleep problems become so bad that he/she cannot get through his/her day without a nap
• The time your child spends worrying takes up a large part of his/her day
• Your child becomes extremely upset when faced with something s/he fears

If you think these problems are getting worse talk to your child's doctor even if you have discussed these things before.

Adapted in part from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Facts for Families© series (1997) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Primary Care (DSM-PC) (1996) .