Is It Common to Develop Anxiety Disorder During Childhood? Posted: 12-10-07 17:01pm
Hi everyone. I was just wondering if its
common to develop anxiety disorder during
childhood. Currently, I'm doing a school
major project on anxiety disorder, and
exploring on awareness/educating public on
the importance of seeking early
treatments.
By the way, I have an anxiety disorder
since young(gagging attacks [panic
disorder] every now & then, resulted in
gag reflex) and it's nice to meet you guys
here
What are your views on childhood anxiety
disorders?
Thanks & cheers Comrades~
hilman
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anniek
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
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Posted: 12-10-07 18:02pm
I think you can in my opinion. My sister
had bouts of mood swings for a long time
and in about middle school started have
full blown attacks. We think the mood
swings were a begining sign of anxiety.
She now takes medication and knows how to
control to a point. I recently started
having attacks, started on a medication,
and now am medication free for now. I
control them but now know if I can't
control anymore to get help. I beleive
many children have this and we need to
find ways to help them it cause many other
problems in their lives!
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CarolDiane
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Posted: 12-10-07 18:34pm
I have to agree on this 150%. When I was a
child, I was already diagnosed with
nervous stomach syndrome. Right on the
path to anxiety and here I am 50+ years
later with severe anxiety and stress with
depression. They saw it coming and I did
not.
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hil07
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 2
Posted: 12-11-07 00:57am
Thank you for your reply. Yes, it's seems
that most anxiety disorders starts young.
How about misdiagnose? Is it as common as
what it appeared in anxiety-related forums
where sufferers often complain of being
misdiagnosed by doctors &
psychiatrists? I'm not sure about you guys
but I was misdiagnosed 2 times in the
past. I wouldn't blame the doctors, I
think it's merely miscommunication; no
clue on medical terms n terminologies on
describing symptoms n other details on my
part at that time.
So, if being misdiagnosed is common, how
can we ensure that anxiety disorders in
children can be detected early and
accurately when its even harder for a
child to open up & describe, for etc.
symptoms or sensations they experienced
(some of the symptoms, especially in the
early stages, are quite generic, spanning
most of the different types of anxiety
disorders), as compared to adults.
Or early anxiety disorder detection is all
about guessing game and doctors-hopping?
(which I'm sure will put more stress on
the poor child) What are your views?
Thank you once again. Appreciate the help!
Cheers~
HILMAN
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CarolDiane
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Posted: 12-11-07 01:02am
There are tell tail signs if you look hard
enough. Some very intraverted at a young
age. Anti-social with no real friends. Or
even show aggression in pre-school. They
are there. You just have to recognize them
early enough. As I said, the real thing
usually starts to show in young teens.
Carrie
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Georgia59
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Posted: 12-11-07 13:25pm
Misdiagnosis for any psychological illness
is easy because there's no blood test or
simple way to determine what it is.
Psychology is not yet an exact science.
I think it might be problematic to treat
children that young- anxiety disorders are
not 100% genetic- it is partially
envirionmental too. If you are treating
them that early and exposing the child to
that dialogue early in life, you might
exacerbate a disorder which was never
going to come to fruition in the first
place. The child might have learned ways
to cope or other things that would cause
the child not to develop a disorder. Make
sense?
I do agree that children who are showing
signs of a disorder and are not being able
to function should be treated asap.
However, finding signs in children before
they actually develop a disorder seems
like it would do more harm than good.
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CarolDiane
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Posted: 12-11-07 14:07pm
Good point gal. Boy are you gonna make a
good one!
I do agree that as you get older, there
probably would be some sign of
intravertedness or maybe something as
simple as crying for no reason. I was the
intraverted kind. Started when I was about
12 yeard old. Of course things just kept
getting worse after that. Only had one
really close friend at any set time.
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Georgia59
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Posted: 12-11-07 16:25pm
Thanks Carrie
Yeah, you usually can look back and find
signs or precursors. My mom says that she
was depressed as a kid now that she looks
back on it.
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anniek
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
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Posted: 12-11-07 17:48pm
I agree about treating them early. My
sister learned to deal with situations as
she grew. But about highschool age her
axiety got bad enough she was having full
blown attacks at school or work, my mother
did not get her on medication until she
was 18 and they knew that is what was
going on. In situations when they can not
function and other things have not helped
then yes they need to be treated.
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Georgia59
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Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 5539 Location: Along the Mississippi, USA
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Posted: 12-11-07 17:54pm
Oh I completely agree. I am just saying
that you shouldn't look to hard to find
"signs" in your young children. In a case
when they are not able to function, (as
you said) treatment at any age is
necessary.
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CarolDiane
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Posted: 12-11-07 19:16pm
Well, I think it is time to come clean
again. Boy, am I getting brave here. Maybe
just to comfortable with all of you. I am
manic. Was tested back in the 80s with a
base line blood draw. Lithium crystals do
not show up in the blood. You will get a
zero base line. Doc starts you one a mg or
so and then does another blood draw. If it
shows up that you are .05 or less ( I
think) you are lithium diffecient. And I
was. He put me on 1mg of Lithium twice a
day and brought me up to a 0.9. I felt
like a wall had been taking down. Well, he
was not satisfied with that and had me
take one more dose a day. The first extra
dose I took, I had a reaction of some kind
and flushed them all down the toilet. LOL.
I am managing alright. I do have my days
and today just happened to be one of them.
Then I will have my up days where I could
ride a cloud. Anyway, I have been dealing
with this since the mid 80s.
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Georgia59
Moderator
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 5539 Location: Along the Mississippi, USA
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Posted: 12-13-07 15:58pm
Thanks for sharing Carrie, your personal
experience has been invaluable on this
board.
Are you still on the lithium? I have a few
people very close to me who are going
through the same thing, I know it can be
hard. Best of luck.
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mixxxer21
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Sep 2007 Posts: 18
I Agree Posted: 12-25-07 02:42am
I do think i had it when i was younger and
just within the last 5 years it has really
been showing with going into the real
world from college and being done with
sports. I am getting the trouble getting
a deep breath or always thinking I need on
all the time. Gagging feeling, clearing
throat, worried about dying or having
terminal disease becasue of the symptoms,
I don't know what to do. They say its
anxiety but I haven't got help because I
am waiting on insurance. any suggestions
or does anyone feel like this and want to
talk.
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paintedmouse
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 17 Dec 2007 Posts: 17 Location: ,
Posted: 12-28-07 19:17pm
Anxiety disorders are both nature and
nurture. Parenting and social encounters
can determine the severity of someone
pre-disposed to disorders. Two identical
people with similar disorders may turn
into two unrecognizable people, or they
could stay the same.
The onset of later childhood anxiety, or
adult anxiety, is often something more
complex such as PSTD or a indicator of
mild aspergers or other disease. Anxiety,
also, can be caused by the American diet
which contains caffeine, sugars and
starches that are not normally part of
human intake and can cause overload for
the brain.
