Certain anxiety disorders are especially common in childhood and adolescence. Each involves a different focus of fear or worry, but all share the core features of heightened arousal, persistent anticipation, and a tendency toward avoidance.
Separation anxiety is the most common childhood anxiety disorder Dr. Silverman sees in her practice. Children with separation anxiety become fearful about being apart from their parents—refusing to attend birthday parties, insisting on sleeping in the parents’ bed, or becoming distressed at school drop-off.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) causes intense, uncontrollable worry that the child finds difficult to control—about school, health, family, or future events.
Social anxiety can involve feeling intense concern about what others think, including worrying about feeling embarrassed, judged, or rejected in social situations.
Selective mutism is the inability to speak in specific social situations despite speaking normally in others. It can appear in children as young as two.
Left untreated, childhood anxiety can evolve. “If you are a child with separation anxiety, over time, you’re at risk for other anxiety problems like panic disorder, which we see more in teenagers,” Dr. Silverman says.