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Hannah, an anxious child

Hannah, an anxious child

This article presents a case study of an anxious child, and highlights some common symptoms for parents and teachers to be watchful for. The case study involves a fictitious identity; any resemblance to a real person is completely coincidental.

Hannah (not a real person) was a 10-year-old girl from a close, supportive family who was described as 'anxious from birth'. She had been a shy, reserved young girl at pre-school, but she integrated well in grade 1 and began making friends and succeeding academically. She complained several times of severe abdominal pain that was worst in the morning and never present at night. She had missed about 20 days of school during the previous year because of the pain. She also avoided school excursions, fearing the bus would crash. She had difficulty falling asleep and frequently asked her parents for their reassurance.

Hannah was worried that she and members of her family might die. She was unable to sleep at all before a test. She could not tolerate having her parents on a different floor of the house from herself, and she insisted on securing the house to an unnecessary extent in the evenings, fearing intruders. Her insecurity, need for constant reassurance, and school absenteeism were frustrating and upsetting for her parents.

Hannah had no personal history of traumatic events. She exhibits symptoms typical of childhood anxiety disorder, which is thought to occur in about 10% of children, equally in boys and girls before puberty. This type of disorder is diagnosed when anxiety is sufficient to interfere with daily functioning, for example Hannah's school attendance and sleep. These effects can increase and interfere to a progressively greater extent with age-appropriate functioning at home, at school and with peers, and also places sufferers at risk of developing mood disorders or substance abuse disorders in the future.

Many children experience fears; fears that are developmentally normal. Children with anxiety disorders, however, experience persistent fears or other symptoms of anxiety for months. Children can experience all the anxiety disorders experienced by adults. However, they can also experience separation anxiety disorder and selective mutism (failure to speak in certain social situations, thought to be related to social anxiety), which are unique to children. The duration of Hannah's difficulties and the symptoms, including inability to sleep, attend school regularly, go on school excursions, or face tests without extreme distress are all developmentally inappropriate, suggesting an anxiety disorder.

There is a range of common symptoms seen in anxious children. Symptoms involving thoughts include worrying, requests for reassurance, 'what if.' questions, and upsetting obsessive thoughts. Common symptoms involving behaviours include difficulty in separation, avoiding feared situations, tantrums when faced with fear, 'freezing' or mutism in feared situations, and repetitive rituals, or compulsions. Common symptoms involving feelings include panic attacks, hyperventilation, stomachaches, headaches and insomnia.

To screen quickly for one or more anxiety disorders in children, four questions are often useful:

  1. Does the child worry or ask for parental reassurance almost every day?
  2. Does the child consistently avoid certain age-appropriate situations or activities, or avoid doing them without a parent?
  3. Does the child frequently have stomachaches, headaches, or episodes of hyperventilation?
  4. Does the child have daily repetitive rituals?

These questions address the main thoughts, behaviours and feelings related to anxiety seen in children.

Megan Rodgers wishes to acknowledge an article entitled 'Childhood Anxiety Disorders' written by Dr Manassis, a Staff Psychiatrist at the Hospital for Sick Children and the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Ontario, on which this article is based.

Written by Megan Rodgers
ADAVIC Volunteer
June 2004

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