US News & World Report: Does Your Child Have an Anxiety Disorder or a Phobia?
Note from Carrie: Writing this piece for U.S. News and World Report was very important to me both professionally and personally. Childhood anxiety is a critical issue, especially for adoptees. “A child prone to anxiety has a brain that automatically fills with negative thoughts that reflect black and white thinking – or very rigid, inflexible ways of looking at the world. These negative thoughts distort reality and make your child feel far more anxious. It takes some practice to identify these negative thoughts. They often assume catastrophic outcomes – or that the worst will happen: ‘I will mess up and cry in front of everyone and lose all my friends.’ These thoughts feed into the cycle of fear and anxiety.”
March 7, 2019, at 6:00 a.m.
FEAR CAN BE A HELPFUL emotion, particularly for children who are learning to navigate the world. Feeling afraid lets them know when they are in danger and helps them respond.
On the other hand, many children today struggle with anxiety that goes beyond what’s considered normal and healthy. The key is identifying when your child’s fear has changed from productive to harmful. The first step is to understand the different types of anxiety. These include:
- Generalized anxiety.
- Situational anxiety and phobias.
- Social anxiety.
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