Chloe Chessell So, what are the  different types of anxiety problems? So,   in pre-adolescent children, so children who are  aged 12 years and below, we tend to see four   different types of anxiety difficulties  separation anxiety, generalised anxiety,   specific phobias, and social anxiety. So,  let’s have a think about each of those in turn. Separation anxiety is where a child or a  young person has excessive fears or worries   about being separated from a key caregiver.  They worry that something bad might happen to   themselves or to their key caregiver when  they’re not together. So, for example,   a child might worry about getting lost or being  kidnapped when they’re not with their caregiver,   or they might worry that their caregiver  will be in an accident or become ill   when they’re not together. And so, a child who  experiences separation anxiety difficulties   might be really distressed when they have to  separate from the caregiver. They might refuse   to separate altogether, or they might  be really reluctant to be on their own. Say, for example, a child with separation anxiety  difficulties might struggle to play in a room in   the house independently from their parent, or they  might struggle to sleep in their bed on their own,   without their parent there. And this anxiety  difficulty is interfering and it starts to   get in the way of things that children  need or want to be able to be doing. So,   they might find it hard to go to after school  clubs because their parent isn’t there,   or they might find it hard to even go to  school by – because of the idea of being   away from their parent. So, that’s  separation anxiety difficulties. Generalised anxiety is where a child  or a young person has excessive fears   or worries about a range of different things.  So, for example, they might worry excessively   about their schoolwork. They might worry  excessively about friendships. They might   worry excessively about their health or the  health of their family. They might worry   about family matters. They might worry about  wider events in the world, so, for example,   war or terrorism. And children who experience  generalised anxiety difficulties often find it   very hard to control worries and often  seem to be worrying all of the time.  And these worries are often associated with lots  of the physical symptoms of anxiety. So, children   might experience muscle tension due to having lots  of worries. They might have difficulties sleeping   due to their worries. They might feel on edge  because of having lots of worries or feel easily   fatigued. And again, these generalised worries  about lots of different things are interfering and   getting in the way of the young person’s life, so  things they need or want to be able to be doing. Specific phobias, then, are where a child or  a young person has excessive fears or worries   about a particular object, event or situation.  Common examples of phobias include animals,   needles or injections, heights, for example, and  when a young person is, kind of, exposed to this   feared object, event or situation, they often  feel really intense fear or anxiety. And again,   this specific phobia gets in the way of their  life and makes it hard for them to do things. So, for example, if a young person  had a specific phobia of dogs,   that would be problematic if it meant that  they couldn’t go to the park and play with   their friends because they were really  fearful that a dog might be around. Or   they might avoid walking to school because  they’re really worried that they might see   a dog on the path when they’re walking  to school. So, it’s really, kind of,   getting in the way and starting to interfere with  things they need and want to be able to be doing. Social anxiety, then, is the final kind of anxiety  difficulty that we typically see in children age   12 and under. And social anxiety is where a child  or a young person has excessive fears or worries   about social situations, or situations where they  could be negatively evaluated by their peers. So,   for example, they might worry about having  a conversation with other children their   age. They might worry about answering a  question or participating in class. They   might worry about eating in front of other  people. And they’re worried about these   situations because they’re worried they  might make a fool of themselves or that   other people might laugh at them, so that they  might be negatively evaluated by other people. And again, these social situations can be really  distressing and anxiety provoking for a young   person, and these worries are starting to get in  the way of things of things they need or want to   be able to be doing. So, a young person with  social anxiety difficulties might find their   schoolwork is really struggling because they’re  afraid to ask a question in class ‘cause other   people might laugh at them or think badly of  them. Or they might struggle to join after school   clubs or activities because they’re worried  about what other people will think of them. And so, those are the four common anxiety  problems that we see in children age 12   and under. When we think about adolescents,  so children aged over the age of 12 years,   we can continue to see these four difficulties,  and in particular, we tend to see social   anxiety and particularly in the adolescent  years. And in addition to social anxiety,   adolescence is also a time where individuals  might experience what we call panic disorder. Panic disorder is characterised by recurrent panic  attacks and so, a panic attack is a really abrupt   onset of fear and anxiety and it’s accompanied  by lots of different physical sensations. So,   it’s a really abrupt onset of your heart beating  really fast, feeling really sweaty, hot sensations   or chills, feeling shaky or dizzy. So, lots and  lots of really unpleasant physical symptoms. Young people can also be worrying that they might  die or that they might lose control, they might   faint during these panic attacks. And with panic  disorder, those panic attacks are recurrent,   so they’re happening frequently, and the young  person is worried about having another panic   attack. And they also change their behaviour as  a result of that panic attack. So, for example,   they might start to avoid situations where  they’ve had panic attacks before. And again, these   symptoms are causing significant interference  in that young person’s day-to-day life. And so, that’s typically what we see  in adolescents. So, more common to   have social anxiety difficulties and also,  the onset of panic difficulties, as well.