Generalized Anxiety Disorder, School Age

You said that your child often worries about a lot of different things. All children worry from time to time, but your child worries quite often. Your child's worries may be causing problems at school or home. Your child has probably has been feeling this way for the past 6 months or longer. Children who have the difficulties you reported often have a problem called Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Your child has some of the following difficulties:

• Worries often (e.g. more days than not)
• Worries about a lot of different things (i.e., school, sports, friends, being on time)
• Can't control the worries

Your child may also have several of the following difficulties:

• Restlessness
• Sweating
• Feeling keyed up or on edge
• Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
• Irritability
• Muscle tension
• Sleep problems (e.g. difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or restless sleep)

Your child may try to avoid things that make him/her nervous. For example, she may not participate in class (and this may lead to lower grades). S/he may also have problems getting along with other children. Your child may seem very tense or uptight. S/he may seek a lot of reassurance. Your child may be quiet and eager to please.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a fairly common problem. Females are more likely to have these worries than males. These problems often start in childhood. It is common for other members of your family have these types of worries, too.

Adapted in part from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Facts for Families© series (1997), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Primary Care (DSM-PC) (1996), and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Fourth Edition (1994).

How you can help your child with anxiety:

• Teach your child about anxiety
• Help your child recognize when they are feeling scared
• For early school aged children, have them draw pictures of different emotions, including fear
• Read books about characters that worry or feel scared
• For older school-aged children, help them talk their way through the worry
• Discuss the following questions with them until they can do this on their own
• What am I worried about?
• What is the worst that can happen? What is the best that can happen?
• How likely is the worst to happen? What is most likely to happen?
• What can I do if the worst happens?
• What can I do to prevent the worst from happening?
• Will worrying prevent the worst from happening?
• Help them think of something else to do besides worrying