01/11/2022
20.5% of youth worldwide now struggle with anxiety symptoms. Some main anxiety disorder types are:
1. Generalized anxiety disorder: These kids are worried across the board – about their performance, their friends group, their health, their parents’ health etc. The youth may experience psychological anxiety such as upset stomach, muscle tension, difficulty in relaxing, difficulty in falling asleep, difficulty in concentrating and feeling fatigued.
2. Social anxiety disorder : These young children are intensely afraid of social situations where they might feel embarrassed or judged and will avoid the situation. They generally have difficulty in making friends, avoiding social situations and feeling shaky, sweaty or nauseous in feared social settings.
3. Panic disorder. This condition is marked by recurrent, unexpected panic attacks and persistence concern and worry about having another attack. Panic attacks are abrupt surges of intense fear or extreme discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes, accompanied by physical and cognitive symptoms like palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath, fear of going crazy or fear of dying.
4. Selective mutism: Children with selective mutism have no trouble in talking in situations where they are comfortable – at home or with others they feel close to—but with new people and in new places, there is almost a freeze response.
(Source: Monitor on Psychology, A publication of the American Psychological Association, October 2022.)
There are many other types of anxiety disorders. All anxiety disorders are treatable and can be controlled.
If you find any such disorders in the children, please consult a psychologist at the earliest.
Muralidhar Patkar, Counseling Psychologist, Contact Number 9545136800, Pune, Maharashtra.
