Anxiety Disorders Paper

Untreated anxiety symptoms can develop into various disorders, significantly affecting children’s cognitive, behavioral, and somatic functioning (Maid, Smokowski, & Bacallao, 2008). Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses experienced by children and adolescents. According to Walkup et al. (2008) the prevalence of anxiety disorders among children remains within a range of 10-20%. Anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive fears and worry causing discomfort that interferes with a child’s well-being and affects all areas of a child’s life, including school, home, and social life (Cooley & Boyce, 2004).

There were two studies that examined the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). The Hale III et al. (2014) prospective cohort study was conducted to determine if frequent administration of the SCARED further distinguished between false positives and true positives with regard to DSM-5 diagnostic symptoms of anxiety disorder. While the Simon et al. (2009) prospective study was conducted to determine if results relating to high-anxious and median-anxious on the SCARED could be used to distinguish and predict various anxiety disorders. Both authors believe that anxiety disorders can take a serious toll on the quality of life and can financially drain the society. Simon et al. goes on to say that anxiety disorders that

Mood (GEM)” about depression and its causes faced by children at different stages of life like

According the Phal et al (2012) there is three characteristics that contribute to a child developing an anxiety disorder. They include: Behavioural inhibition, parental psychopathology and parenting stress. Though the article also states in its limitations that other attributes to consider is a child’s “happiness, resilience and positive coping” (Pahl et al, 2012, p 318). The exploration

The purpose of the study done by Weinberg was to determine whether or not the presence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) or any combination of the detailed above could contribute to variation in both the ability to monitor errors as well as the sensitivity to error commission. The article theorizes that those patients diagnosed with GAD or OCD would have an enhanced error-related negativity (ERN) level in comparison to the controls, but not when a diagnosis of MDD was also present. They also predicted that those patients that suffered with MDD, however, would not differ from the controls in terms of their ERN levels. The experiment involved psychiatric patients with

Anxiety in Children Anxiety and Depression Association of America (2016). Retrieved from: http://www.adaa.org Anxiety and Depression Association of America (2016) provides comprehensive educational, practice and research supported information regarding anxiety and mood disorders, including facts about anxiety in children. It is offered in English and Spanish, for both “consumers” and “professionals”. It helps distinguish “everyday anxiety” form “anxiety disorder”. For example, “realistic fear of a dangerous object, place, or situation” is classified as “everyday anxiety”, while “irrational fear or avoidance of an object, place, or situation that poses little or no threat of danger” as “anxiety disorder”.

In the realm of anxiety disorders, research on younger populations falls behind in comparison to studies on anxiety disorders in adults. (Mohr & Schneider, 2013) Anxiety is one of the most common psychiatric disorders among school age children, and yet there is still so much more to be known about its development and treatment. (Kessler et al., 2005). Anxiety in school age children can be an issue that interferes with achievement in school. The constant interference can cause disruption in a child's ability retain and process information as well as focus in the classroom. (Semple, Lee, Rosa, & Miller, 2010). Anxiety in children often manifests as a disruption in attention. In turn, the consequential lack of success in school can lead to more anxiety due to a student’s negative self-judgment (Gordon, 1977). This circle of cognitive interference in school and the following negative self-judgment by the child is one that can lead to increasing levels of anxiety. There have been multiple forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) that have shown some promise as treatments for childhood anxiety (Sullkowski, Joyce, & Storch, 2011). However with an increasing prevalence of childhood psychiatric disorders, there is still somewhat of lack of research in to the use of psychological interventions to treat them (Semple, Reid, & Miller, 2005).

Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in the United States and women are over twice as likely to suffer from anxiety than men (Kessler et al., 2005). The symptoms of anxiety can be life disrupting; affecting personal and professional relationships, sleep, appetite, health, and overall quality of life. The causes of anxiety seem ever-present and there is no indication the situation is going to improve in the immediate future. Global politics, war, domestic terrorism, rising health care costs, and economic instability are but a few of the surfeit anxiety causing stressors individuals must endure while also managing daily pressures of everyday life.

As described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) is a new diagnosis characterized by chronic irritability that requires clinical attention. Averna, D’Agati, & Vicari (2016) emphasize that the prevalence of this type of disorder ranges from 0.8% to 3.3% with higher rates in preschool age children (as cited in Copeland et al. 2013) p.149.

Namely, 2-5 years after the intervention, the children maintained their gains over all three types of anxiety disorders. This effect was confirmed with both self-report and parent-report measures of anxiety, self-reported anxious self-talk and self-reported depression. All participants in the time of the study did not have anxiety disorder diagnosis.

Promising developments in the treatment of mood disorders in adults have played a role. In addition the application of diagnostic criteria in children has greatly improved.

Childhood emotional and behavioural disorders can be defined as “‘behaviours or distressed emotions, which are common or normal in children at some stage of development, but become abnormal by virtue of their frequency or severity, or their inappropriateness for a particular child’s age compared to the majority of ordinary children. Therefore they are more than the annoying behaviours displayed by most children at sometimes” (Hall and Elliman, 2003, p.262). The more predominant types of disorders amongst children would include emotional disorders, oppositional defiant disorders, conduct disorders, attention deficit disorder, major psychiatric disorders, developmental delay and autism, eating disorders and antisocial behaviour. With this spectrum of behaviours they can, therefore, vary from very mild to clinically problematic depending on the severity. An emotional disorders, oppositional deficit disorder and attention defiant disorder present amongst children

The difference between social anxiety disorder and other disorders is that a person is capable of enjoying themselves. This is because they are not impacted as severely physically since their fear is only stimulated in the event that they will have to be

Collective research throughout the years have correlated relations between emotion related discrepancies and maladaptive social functioning. Although there has been an occurrence of emotional and social challenges in children with anxiety disorders, minimal research has actually examined the variables in tandem in experimental samples of youth (Jacob). Emotional and social performance inefficiency are most likely going to increase the functional impairment linked with youth anxiety disorders. Consequently, it may hinder the successful mastery of essential developmental milestones for the children who struggle with anxiety. Thus, the study of relationships between emotional and social functioning in children with anxiety disorders is definitely necessary.

I chose to explore the topic of anxiety disorders. I chose this topic mainly because I suffer from extremely severe anxiety and I am always looking to learn more about it. I also chose this topic because I wanted to gain more knowledge about how to deal/cope with my anxiety; more specifically without using any kind of medication. I have struggled with anxiety since a very young age and the first thing my doctors did was put me on medication, and when that didn’t work they’d try another, and another. Nothing ever really helped because usually the side effects were not worth the little amount they would do to help my anxiety. When I turned 18, I said “no more pills”, and have been trying to deal with my anxiety in natural ways ever since. I will use this new information and treatment options to apply to my own life to help treat my anxiety.