What are Signs of Anxiety in a Child?
Having a child with anxiety can be far worse than having anxiety as an adult. When it comes to children they may have a hard time explaining their emotions or feelings, which means it’s left on the parents to really pay attention to the signs of anxiety in a child in order to help their child cope. If you or someone you know thinks that their child may have anxiety, then you’ll want to have a peek at this list of signs of anxiety in a child to take the next steps towards helping this child move forward in life with less worry and fear. 
I have always suffered from anxiety and I saw the signs in my daughter early and was able to help her learn ways to cope. As a parent, it often involves trusting our gut even if we don’t want to.
What are Signs of Anxiety in a Child?
Repetitive Body Behaviors
Everything from nail biting to hair pulling can be a sign of anxiety in a child. These do not have to be anything extreme, although hair pulling can lead to bald spots if the child is experiencing major anxiety, they are some form of repetitive body behaviors that don’t seem to make sense for the child. Other examples of repetitive body behaviors could be skin biting or joint cracking.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
A child with anxiety may experience a lot of signs of OCD. This could be an extreme fear of something, an extreme need or desire to have everything in order, organized and symmetric. A child with anxiety who has OCD could experience aggressive thoughts or have intrusive sounds or words. 
Separation Anxiety
A child who is suffering from anxiety will have obvious signs of anxiety in certain situations. Separation anxiety may be common when you’re first bringing your child to a babysitter or school, but over time children adapt and get used to being cared for by another person or being at school. A child who has anxiety may never get used to that separation from their parent, so they have continuous meltdowns over that separation.
Trouble Sleeping
A child who has anxiety may have a difficult time falling asleep due to the fact that their minds are continuously worrying about something. Even children who suffer from anxiety have overthinking tendencies, but they just don’t express them as verbally as adults do. A child who has trouble drifting off to sleep no matter how routine their bedtime ritual is, they still struggle with shutting off their minds and falling asleep. Even as an adult, this is often how my anxiety manifests itself.
These are just a handful of the signs of anxiety in a child. Every child will be different in how they showcase their anxious symptoms because every child has their own triggers that onset anxious feelings or symptoms. This list should give you a general idea of whether or not your child may have anxiety so that you can seek advice from a professional who specializes in anxiety with children. Not sure where to turn? Always bring your concerns to your child’s pediatrician. If you feel like they don’t have the right answers you can always seek a second opinion.
As a parent, trusting your gut is a huge part of parenting. Getting your child help early is always an important part of treatment. Just remember, you are not alone.
Here are some other posts you may want to read:
Hello My Name Is Emelia And I Have An Anxiety Disorder
When I Had An Aha! Moment That Even Oprah Would Be Proud Of
