Anxiety Disorders in Children Support Group

You are wise to pay attention to all the signs and symptoms before jumping into the world of psychiatric treatment. That should only be done when you see that your son is unable to make social connections, is avoiding situations because of his anxiety, or is shutting you out. Always be there for him, but don't force yourself on him.

A proper diagnosis can be made by a child psychiatrist, neuropsych, or developmental pediatrician. The if it is Anxiety then you can take the appropriate steps.

Hi there

You know taking him to a counselor may actaully be seen as a responsible move if you feel something is really up....

Having said this my son has sensory issues and has always had stomach problems it can be part of it.......does your son have sensory issues? Maybe just talk it over with your child's doctor.....I did as much research as I could, finally some of the not so obvious behavoiurs also started to slot into a general diagnosis.

oloft for his anxiety he would not be in school right now he was a nervous wreck. I really sugest you get a daignosis for anxiety ASAP. Good Luck

Two things I can suggest, coming from a parent with a son who has anxiety. Several non-medication things. First, I've heard peppermint has good effects on stomach and intestinal issues. I've not tried that one, but you could google it. However, I have tried fish oil and vitamin B supplement which seem to work well for my son. Also, there is a great book by James Crist called "What to do when you're scared and worried". His therapist was very impressed by this book, and so was my son (he is 9).

My daughter is now 9 but at age 7 she had stomaches at school, hated recess and lunch (due to all the kids and chaos). I did not know she had anxiety and took her to the childrens hospital after my pediatrician suggested she may have IBS. The specialist there suggested I take her to a child psychiatrist for anxiety. They gave her a stool softner too. She was ofcourse diagnosed with anxiety and we began zoloft. It has been 2 years now and the stomache and constipation are gone, she eats lunch with the other kids now and loves recess. The zoloft has worked wonderful for her anxiety. She also has SID so we have other issues we are currently working out, but I have to suggest zoloft if it is anxiety. I agree with Leachs about a proper diagnosis and treatment would be considered good on your part, not a down fall.

Good luck!

Oh yeah... we did do the peppermint candy thing before zoloft and it did help. Although I'm not sure if it was the peppermint or just the idea that she was allowed candy at school. LOL!

My son, now 10, was diagnosed a year ago with situational anxiety disorder. He was afraid of the dark, of us being out of his sight, of storms, of doctor visits, of getting on the school bus during a rain.....the list goes on. No one outside our home would have known there was a problem, and he was able to avoid many situations out of the home that would expose his condition, but his reactions to certain situations were very abnormal. We were becoming a very stressed household trying to deal with him. He was even still trying to get in our bed at night because he was so afraid to be in his room alone.

Being strong Christians, we were hesitant to get him involved with psychological help. Our son often discussed his thoughts about God and faith, and we did not want a doctor who would discourage that line of thinking. Thankfully, we found a good child psychologist who also is a strong Christian.

Our son has been in therapy for a little over a year. Without medication, he has made great progress using behavioral modification therapy and a reward system. No more problems with him coming into our room at night or looking for us when we've left the room. His doctor and dental visits go well now. He's like a new kid. We do have issues we are still working on that are severely effecting his self confidence, like the fear of amusement park rides, fear of getting on boats and planes, or doing any adventurous things that a normal 10 year old boy would do. These are hard to work on because it takes repetitive exposure to grow past the fears. That being said, do look into behavioral modification therapy. It has done wonders for my son. He has come a long, long way in improving his anxiety.

That sounds just like my son and I started with the school counselor. My son has ADHD and severe anxiety amd his dad tried to go with hes just a kid who doesnt want to go to school, etc. You do what you feel is right, it doesnt matter what the the dad thinks, if he needs treatment, thats the parental thing to do and the dad should support it. Im glad I took the step to go to a counselor and help my son despite what he said. It will make a difference and help him.

I was always against meds for children intill I realized, Im on prozac and i love it I feel so much better then i did, and Im sure its the same way with children. When there somache hurts you give them meds or there teeth, ext....so why not for anxity? Right? Its better than them living that way for years only to grow uo and turn to drugs to self medicate. Just watch the dosage if they get zombie like there on to much.