Everyone from newborns to adults experience anxiety every day. These feelings are not only normal, they’re necessary. A healthy dose of anxiety helps kids handle life experiences, behave in a safe way at school or on the playground. Research shows that 90% of children between 2 and 14 have at least one fear or phobia that doesn’t interfere with their daily life and social activities. Here’s a list of very common fears:
- Babies experience stranger anxiety, clinging to parents when confronted by people they don’t recognize. Loud noises and large objects can trigger mild anxiety as well.
- Toddlers around 10 to 18 months old experience separation anxiety, becoming emotionally distressed when one or both parents leave.
- Kids ages 4 through 6 have anxiety about things that aren’t based in reality, such as fears of monsters and ghosts. Thunder and lightening, sleeping alone, the dark are also normal fears.
- Kids ages 7 through 12 often have fears that reflect real circumstances that may happen to them, such as bodily injury and natural disaster. School performance and death of a loved one can be added to the list as well.
These fears are easy to overcome with a little help and reassurance from parents. It’s important to watch the symptoms that trigger anxiety and make adjustments to child’s everyday activities to reduce stress. Here’s a list of factors from anxiety.org that can trigger anxiety in kids or make it worse:
- Avoiding situations that trigger anxiety. This would provide temporary relief and prevent the child from learning to cope with anxiety.
- Overprotective parents. when parents are keeping kids away from anxiety producing situations they’re teaching them avoidance. It’s important to teach kids how to cope with fears.
- Negative experiences. Since avoidance doesn’t teach how to cope with negative situations kids with anxiety are more likely to experience failures.
Reassurance and comfort will soothe a normal anxiety but that won’t be enough for a child with an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders affect 1 in 8 kids and left untreated can trigger depression, eating disorders and ADHD. It’s important to watch for patterns and recognize and separate anxiety disorder symptoms from healthy everyday anxiety.
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