Childhood Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders differ from normal anxiety. Anxiety is a healthy and important emotion that everyone has, to alert them to danger so that they can take effective steps to avoid or escape from the danger. Anxiety disorders, on the other hand, occur when people have excessive and persistent fears and worries about things or situations that do not pose real danger. While every day stress-induced anxiety is usually brief and easily managed, persistent anxiety can last for months and impact on daily functioning. For young children, this includes school refusal, absenteeism and reduced class participation, which impacts on learning, academic achievement, ability to make friends and maintain relationships, and developing independence in a variety of domains. Many anxiety disorders develop during childhood and if left untreated tend to continue into adolescence and adulthood. Anxiety disorders include separation anxiety disorder, selective mutism, phobias, social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and generalised anxiety disorder.