Understanding Childhood Fears: When to Seek Help for Phobias and Anxiety Disorders

As children grow, they learn an array of phobias beginning with the under-the-bed monster to fear of noise. They are normal indicators of growth among children and eventually fade away as time passes. However, for individuals, the same anxieties can grow more severe resulting in phobias or anxiety-related conditions that disrupt their daily lives.

Difference Between Fear and Anxiety Disorders:

Fears are an ordinary part of human growth, protecting us. Fears are defense mechanisms that prevent us from engaging in something dangerous. If fears become handicapping or interfere with everyday living, they can manifest themselves as phobias or anxiety disorders.

As Virginia Tech University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology Thomas Ollendick describes, the key element distinguishing normal fear from a more intrusive disorder is the frequency, intensity, and duration of fear. Fears become a problem if they last for a long period or significantly impair a child's functioning.

Wendy Silverman, the Director of the Yale Child Study Center's Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program, still goes on to say that unless they are treated, phobias or childhood anxiety disorders have a tendency to escalate into other medical or psychiatric disorders, and can persist into well into adulthood.

Development of Fears at Different Levels of Childhood:

Anxiety becomes more complex as children get older.

Common fears in young children and adolescents include unfamiliar sounds, losing parents, and outsiders. Such anxieties vanish once children get used to their environments.

Preschoolers begin creating fantasies of anxieties over ghosts or monsters and also learn fears about insects.

Teenagers experience a fear of society when they reach young adulthood. This fear is driven by a concern about how people see them.

Indications of a Phobia or Anxiety Disorder:

It's difficult to identify when a child's dread has progressed into something more severe disorder.

Parents might see behaviors like school avoidance, eating problems, or shunning social interaction. However, children rarely present their fears clearly, and they may struggle to convey their anxieties in words.

Ollendick and Silverman advocate assessing a child's worries in terms of severity, frequency, and duration. If the dread occurs daily and significantly impairs the child's habits, we might need expert assistance.

Specialists suggest that for the fear to be classified as a worry or anxiety condition, it must continue for not less than six months. However, if the anxiousness of a kid is hindering his or her development or causing severe distress, therapy might have to be initiated sooner.

Helping Your Child Manage Fears at Home:

Parents will naturally attempt to shield their children from their fears, but Silverman discourages this, which is "parent protection" or accommodation. It is temporary relief but it reinforces the fear and keeps kids from learning to deal with it on their own.

Rather, Silverman recommends that parents walk the fine line between reassuring children that what they are scared of will happen and straightforwardly telling them about precautions for safety. Parents have to make kids realize that some of their scares, like natural disasters or remote happenings, are extremely unlikely to happen.

The most essential is open communication. The children need to be taught how to talk about what scares them and that it's all right to discuss unpleasant topics. Sometimes a description of the low probability of the dreaded event, such as a hurricane or school attack, and an action plan may reassure.

Also, encouraging them to conquer their fears in teeny-tiny, baby-sized steps can lead them to become confident. The rewards or special privileges, such as after successfully conquering the fear, will motivate them to continue pushing.

When to Seek Professional Help:

If the anxiety in your child lasts more than six months, you must see a trained therapist. Ollendick advises tracking behavior, speaking to teachers or caregivers, and supplying information to the therapist to better understand your child's state.

One of the treatments for phobias and neurological conditions is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) together with tailored exposure therapy. Treatment by exposure involves systematic exposure to the feared stimulus or situation in controlled conditions.

For example, if the youngster is scared of dogs, the method would start with looking at photographs of dogs, then sitting with a dog from a distance, and lastly playing with a relaxed dog. The child gradually loses fear and learns to regulate it.

Conclusion:

Fears are healthy and healthy processes of development but when they are causing problems to one's normal living or constantly, they manifest as a phobia or anxiety disorder. Identifying at an early stage the red flags and addressing them early will be able to ward off permanent damage. Professional assistance can be of great assistance when home interventions prove ineffective, and can help the child overcome its fears and have healthier, more contented lives.

Through communication, gradual facing of fears and phobias, and securing professional help if needed, parents can guide the child to be able to form coping mechanisms useful for the cure of phobia and anxiety management.

Source: CNN