What types of anxiety do children and teenagers experience?

Common types of anxiety in children and teenagers are described below.

A fear or phobia about something specific

Children are commonly afraid of things like monsters, dogs or water. This is a perfectly normal part of growing up, but has thepotential to become a phobia(a type of anxiety disorder) when the fear becomes overwhelming andaffects your child's day-to-day life.

Read about phobias .

Feeling anxious for most of the time for no apparent reason

Whileit's normal for children to frequently have fears andworries, some anxious children may grow up to develop a long-term condition called generalised anxiety disorder when they become a teenager or young adult.

Generalised anxiety disorder causes you tofeel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues, rather than one specific event.

Peopleaffected by itfeel anxious most days and often struggle to remember the last time they felt relaxed.

It can make settling intonursery or school or with a child minder very difficult.

Separation anxiety in older children may be a sign that theyre feeling insecure about something they could be reacting to changes at home, for example.

Social anxiety

Social anxiety is not wanting to go out in public, see friends ortake part in activities.

Social 'shyness' is perfectly normal for some children and teenagers, but it becomes a problem 'social anxiety disorder' when everyday activities like shoppingor speaking on the phone cause intense, overwhelming fear. Children affected by ittend to fear doing or saying something they think will be humiliating.

Social anxiety disorder tends to affect older children who have gone through puberty.

They may not always share these worries with you, andinstead complain of tummy aches or feeling sick. One of the signs is crying or seeming tired in the morning.

This may be a problem that needs tackling if it is significantly affecting their daily life (see below).

Less common anxiety disorders

Post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder are other anxiety disorders that can occasionally affect children, but are usually seen in adults.

It's rare for children to have panic attacks .