Top 3 Triggers of Childhood Anxiety

These are the main facilitators and causes of anxiety problems in children.

Despite its bad reputation, it is necessary to recognize that anxiety is an excellent defense mechanism at a biological level. Living beings need to be able to induce in our own organism states of conscious alertness, in order to sharpen our senses and escape from the threat that lurks in a particular moment.

When we feel fear and anxiety, adrenaline and cortisol are released in the body. The former increases the heart rate, constricts Blood vessels, dilates the airways and participates in the central nervous system (CNS) combat reaction. Cortisol, on the other hand, has a slower onset and is secreted in response to stress. It suppresses the immune system and mobilizes the body's nutrients to be converted into energy, among many other things.

Both hormones convey a clear concept to the body: get ready to fight, run or face adversity. The problem arises when cortisol and other stress hormones take up long-term residence in the body's bloodstream and tissues, giving rise to what we know today as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). In the following, we explore this clinical entity in the pediatric age and the main triggers of GAD. the main triggers of childhood anxiety..

Normal anxiety or disorder?

Anxiety involves a series of negative feelings and, therefore, it is normal that we do not like to experience it, whether we are infants or adults.

In any case, it is necessary to take into account that some degree of sporadic anxiety in a child need not be bad.. For him everything is new and every moment is a challenge (his first day of school, learning to use the toilet, trying a new food, etc.), so hyperstimulation and anxious perceptions at this time are, to some extent, normal.

Based on this premise, we see interest in presenting you with the signs that confirm the diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder, presented by the American Psychological Organization in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fifth edition). For GAD to be considered as such, the following requirements must be met:

• Excessive anxiety and worry, presented almost every day of the week, for a period of at least six months.
• Difficulty in controlling worries.
• Presentation of at least three of these six symptoms, almost every day of the week, for six months or more: lack of rest, ease of experiencing fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension and sleep problems.
• Anxiety cannot be explained by other mental and/or physiological disorders. In this case, special attention should be paid to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Anxiety cannot be explained by substance use.

This criterion is aimed at the adult population, but is perfectly applicable to younger patients.. In any case, mental health professionals should be consulted immediately with the child if he/she has sleeping or eating problems for three days in a row, if he/she hears voices that others do not, if he/she is out of control or if he/she has worrying behaviors, however subjective this last criterion may be. All these symptoms can be complemented with those previously described to suspect GAD in a child.

Main causes of generalized anxiety in children

GAD is a common disorder, affecting 2 to 6% of children.. Its average age of presentation is 8 years old and it tends to affect girls more than boys, but it can occur at many other times in life. Here are some of the triggers of this disorder.

1. Familial inheritance and genetic predispositions

Anxiety disorders show a clear pattern of familial inheritance. Genetic contribution explains 38% of the variability of GAD and 44% of panic disorders, for example.for example. The Grm2 gene (Glutamate receptor 2) seems to play an essential role in these pathologies, but it is certainly not possible to attribute the burden of such a complex disorder to a single pair of alleles.

At the research level, GAD is considered a polygenic trait, ie, influenced by several genes and epigenetic mechanisms.. Epigenetics refers to the expression or suppression of certain genes depending on the environment, so it is not only the genomic load that matters, but also the patient's life context.

2. Traumatic events

Generalized anxiety may be triggered by a traumatic event, such as a traumatic event, such as the loss of a loved one, a serious illness or parental divorce.. In particular, anxiety following the death of a parent is extremely common. It is necessary for the infant to learn to channel grief, to control his or her crises and to experience grief without excessive haste or anguish. Pharmacological therapy can help a lot in these cases.

• You may be interested in "What is trauma and how does it influence our lives?"

Overprotection 3.

Perhaps this generates more anxiety as a natural event than GAD, but as they say, everything adds up when it comes to explaining a psychological picture (environment, genetics and personal predisposition). The fact of overprotecting a child creates a clear rebound effect.The overprotection of a child creates a clear rebound effect, as it causes the child to have excessive fear of the event to which he/she is being denied exposure in the first place.

In the case of children with previous pathologies or functional diversity, overprotection is even more common. Parents try to prevent the child from suffering mishaps due to their non-neurotypical conditions and inadvertently cause the child to dread the environment around them. As in all cases, going to therapy (individual or family) can help a lot to learn how to manage the special conditions in each case.

What to do?

As we have seen, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a clinical entity separate from the rest, characterized by the symptomatology described above. However, anxiety can be a symptom of another broad spectrum disorder, such as anxiety can be a symptom of another broad spectrum disorder, such as ADHD, major depressive disorders (MDD) and other clinical entities..

Therefore, when looking for the causes of childhood anxiety, it is necessary to know whether it is a natural event, a clinical entity or a symptom of another disorder. This is the only way to find out the underlying reasons for the event and to apply the appropriate treatment to the patient, regardless of age. And the ones in charge of examining these cases one by one are mental health professionals, which is why it is important to seek therapy for these problems.

If you are looking for psychotherapy services to address childhood anxiety or other emotional disturbances in children, adults or adolescents, please contact us. At Despertares Psychologists we attend both face-to-face and online sessions.