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Children and Adolescents with Anxiety

Casie Johnston, LPC
Clinician

Imagine being a young child watching the animated movie Inside Out and realizing you have all those emotions too- joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust! Now, imagine being a child watching Inside Out 2 and realizing you have all those emotions too- embarrassment, envy, boredom, and ANXIETY! If you are unfamiliar with this movie, the main character, Riley, is experiencing anxiety overtaking her emotion of joy. The characters representing these two emotions have a battle in her mind. While anxiety is creating lots of worrisome thoughts, joy tries to reframe these and make them more positive thoughts.

In session, I tell this story to parents and children who suffer from anxiety. It shows how your joy needs to constantly try to keep the negative, or anxious, thoughts out and create more positive and realistic thoughts. It helps with what is known as cognitive reframing, which involves having a negative thought and replacing it with a positive thought.

Anxiety is a common feeling; however, when anxiety becomes overwhelming or significantly impacts their life, that’s when an anxiety disorder diagnosis may need to be addressed. Anxiety disorders in the DSM-5, include diagnoses such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, specific phobia, panic disorder, agoraphobia, selective mutism, and separation anxiety disorder. Symptoms of anxiety disorders can include significant worrying, effects on sleep or appetite, irritability, difficulty concentrating, panic attacks, and/or avoiding social situations.

These diagnoses can be difficult to handle at any age, but they can be especially difficult for children and adolescents. Anxiety can significantly impact academic performance or behaviors at home and school. It can also lead to lower self-esteem, self-isolation, somatic problems such as stomach aches and, without early intervention, can lead to depression, suicide attempts, or substance use.

Fortunately, there are treatments that can help children decrease the intensity of their anxiety symptoms. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of intervention therapists often use to aid the client in identifying how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors all connect. When one of these changes, they all change. In session, your therapist can help your child connect these in an age-appropriate manner. This includes teaching them coping strategies, such as breathing techniques, to help reduce high levels of anxiety.

In addition, parental or guardian support is essential in helping children with anxiety. In a study on childhood anxiety and CBT, researchers concluded that parental involvement was a significant factor in decreasing the intensity of their child’s anxiety. Caregivers can help the child practice their coping skills. and can also help with negative thinking. If their child is thinking negatively, the parent can help them think more positively by giving a compliment or using positive affirmations.

An affirmation is something the child can repeat throughout the day to help decrease anxiety and negative thoughts. If a teenage has social anxiety and cannot enter a social event, they can repeat
“I am safe” or “Anxiety will not control me.” Anxiety causes a person to think about the future excessively, therefore making sure the child knows what to expect day-to-day can benefit them. It can be a good idea to make a routine list for them to check off so they can be aware of what’s coming next.

Anxiety can also cause people to avoid certain situations to avoid discomfort. This provides relief in the moment, but over time can cause anxiety to intensify. Therefore, it is important to not avoid everything that makes your child anxious or the feelings may increase.

Keeping the child’s age in mind is also beneficial, so having therapy interventions that revolve around play are important to incorporate as well. A four-year-old child needs a different CBT approach than a 17-year-old adolescent. For example, to help identify feelings, the four-year-old and the clinician may play a game called Feelings Candy Land, while the 17-year-old may be able to communicate their feelings verbally without the aid of a game, but with the support of the therapist.

If your child is experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned above, call Insight Clinical Counseling and Wellness at 330-397-6007 to schedule an appointment with a clinician today!