Health Anxiety For My Child

While children with health anxiety do not always have a medical condition some do.

Health anxiety for my child. They worry far less about strep throat twisting their ankle or getting a cold says dr. From the age of around 6 months to 3 years it s very common for young children to have separation anxiety. People with health anxiety for the most part tend to fear severe illness such as hiv cancer or dementia.

When left untreated anxiety disorders can lead to poor school performance or socialization loss of sleep and even eventual substance abuse. Fear or fact seeking. Unfortunately it is alive and kicking in little anxious minds.

Health anxiety also known as hypochondria is a condition where people fixate and obsess over their health. Some anxious children keep their worries to themselves and thus the symptoms can be missed. If your child has a chronic medical condition such as asthma food allergies diabetes and others s he can also have a health anxiety disorder.

Giving reassurance is a natural response but when a child is anxious it often doesn t work. Anxiety in children is caused by frightening experiences and events the development of anxiety in children is linked to a situation or perceived event that is frightening or traumatizing. Anxiety may present as fear or worry but can also make children irritable and angry.

Additionally the national institute of mental health estimates that nearly 1 in 3 of adolescents aged 13 18 have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety symptoms can also include trouble sleeping as well as physical symptoms like fatigue headaches or stomachaches. Children can feel anxious about different things at different ages.

This fear that they have a serious illness can interfere with their daily life. Some anxious children keep their worries to themselves and thus the symptoms can be missed. Anxiety can then become a positive thing.