Treating Anxiety Disorders in Children Articles | Anxiety

By: Darren Williger

If you have a child who suffers from anxiety disorders, you will surely know how difficult it is to cope with the situation. By nature children are very sensitive to anxiety. Though the most common form of anxiety disorders that children suffer from is separation anxiety, there are several other types of anxiety also, which may affect these young and delicate minds. Let us study what can be done to relieve these young people from anxiety disorders.

Separation anxiety is a perfectly normal form of anxiety a child feels when he is first separated from his dearest person or his most familiar environment, which could be his home. The separation anxiety can be because he is spending more and more time away from his primary attachment figure, which could be a grandparent, a parent or parents or even a caregiver. While feeling such pangs is considered normal, it needs medical intervention if the separation anxiety reaches a proportion which makes the life of the child as well as the caregiver nearly impossible.

SSRI's, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are drugs which include brands like Zoloft, Paxil, Xanax, and Prozac which can be safely given to a child suffering from any type of anxiety disorder. Belong to a newer generation of anti-anxiety drugs these medications have minimal side effects. At first the child may feel overtly nervous, but the symptom goes away after several weeks of therapy. Tiredness, confusion and drowsiness are some of the side effects of common anti-depressant drugs which all children feel and it is recommended that they be given to the child as and when necessary. The doctor is the best judge of which medicine to be given in what dosage depending on the severity of the condition as well as the child’s overall health and body type.

Tricyclics, also referred to as MAOI's (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) are yet another type of medicines which are prescribed for children. Tricyclics usually have more side effects than SSRI's which may include weight gain, sleepiness or fatigue. Research has shown that having these medications along with foods like cheese and wine may result in perilous consequences. Increase in blood pressure and other serious side effects can also be expected.

Valium, Ativan, and Xanax are the names of other products which your child can have, on a need based manner. It is not common however to find doctors prescribing such medications for young children, as they are considered to be very potent and also addictive by nature.