Exploring The Effects of Anxiety in Children and Adults

An estimated 4 per cent of the global population experiences an anxiety disorder. However, as per Global Health Data Exchange, only 1 in 4 in need receive treatment. Undoubtedly, anxiety disorders take up the lion’s share of all mental disorders in the UK too, with 1 in 20 undergoing a generalised anxiety disorder.

Like any other mental health condition, anxiety disorders arise due to a complex interplay of social, physiological and biological factors. Anxiety impacts mental as well as physical well-being leading to various ailments. The difficulty in managing these health conditions in turn can lead to anxiety, creating a vicious cause-and-effect circle.

Like adults, kids too have their own set of fears and worries. It’s a natural reaction to possible threats or dangers so as a parent, being extremely aware of changes in your child’s behaviour is key. If it begins to affect the general well-being of your kid, it is time for you to help them cope with it and get to the root of the problem. 

With treatments ranging from solution-focused hypnotherapy to medication, timely help is vital in such cases as the effects of anxiety can be detrimental. 

In this article, we explore the various effects of anxiety disorders in adults and kids.

Anxiety in Young Adults and Children

Children are exposed to new fears and anxieties while growing up and these are usually short-lived. However, when children and teens exhibit extreme avoidance and more profound emotional reactions for longer spells in response to fear and anxiety, it may be due to an anxiety disorder.

Following are the different types of anxieties in children:

Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Kids suffering from this type of anxiety often worry excessively about a range of things in their daily routines.

Social Anxiety Disorder

This anxiety disorder is characterised by an intense fear of being judged or rejected in social settings. This will be to the extent that you may see them avoiding social situations altogether. Children and young adults with social anxiety often get uncomfortable interacting with others in familiar environments like school and avoid performing or speaking in public. 

Separation Anxiety Disorder

Children as young as 8 to 12 months experience separation anxiety as a normal developmental phase in childhood and often feel unsafe when you are not around. It becomes a matter of concern when your child excessively worries about you or any other family members and exhibits extreme distress or worry when going to school or being away from home.

Panic Disorder

It is when your child experiences extreme fear and worry along with symptoms like dizziness, heart palpitations and the uneasy feeling of not being able to breathe. 

Specific Phobias

Growing up it is normal for kids and young adults to fear the dark or storms, but phobias are extreme fears that are out of proportion compared to the actual threat.

Effects of Anxiety on Children and Young Adults

Anxiety becomes a major concern when it gets in the way of your child’s daily routine. If left untreated, the reactions can get intense and worse over time and may not entirely go away.

Kids and young adults with anxiety disorders display emotional outbursts, like tantrums, and a lot of avoidance, are always on the edge, and tend to escape or hide if they sense any danger. Other symptoms include stomachaches, nausea, vomiting, headaches, and sleep disturbances. 

Severe anxiety can be very detrimental to your child or teen’s mental and emotional health and can put a dent in their confidence and self-esteem. Your child may withdraw themselves completely and go to extreme lengths to avoid settings that trigger their anxieties.

Anxiety in Adults

In some situations in life, like a job interview or doctor’s appointment, it is normal for adults to feel stressed, threatened or under pressure. Anxiety in adults is not always a bad thing, although it can spring up on you unannounced but helps us calculate our risks and solve problems.

Like children, grown-ups also suffer from anxiety disorders, often experiencing bouts of anxiousness that are intense, hard to control and out of proportion to the situation, in turn affecting the quality of life.

In addition to the common anxiety disorders faced by children, adults can also experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Illness Anxiety Disorder.

PTSD

Anxiety issues may crop up after you experience a very frightening and stressful event, like a car crash or after experiencing an assault or physical/emotional abuse.

OCD 

Obsessing over unpleasant thoughts recurrently and performing specific routines to relieve the anxiety and distress caused by the thoughts are typical OCD characteristics.

Illness Anxiety Disorder

Illness anxiety disorder, also known as hypochondriasis or health anxiety, is where you begin to worry excessively about your health. As a result, you often feel that you have chronic health issues or may turn terminally ill without having any symptoms.

Effects of Anxiety in Adults

Living with chronic anxiety can be mentally and physically debilitating enough to hamper your personal and professional lives. Anxiety in adults can cause a lot of strain on your mental, emotional and behavioural health through symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, an impending sense of doom, headaches, and irritability. 

Along with the strain on your mind, anxiety disorders can lead to severe physical symptoms on your body including breathing problems, an increase in blood pressure, muscle aches and pains, panic attacks, depression, extreme fatigue, pounding heart, loss of appetite and loss of libido.

When dealing with anxiety the physical and mental duress your body undergoes can interfere with your quality of life, making everyday activities seem like a challenge. If left untreated, chronic anxiety can lead to a strain on your personal and social relationships.

In Conclusion

Addressing the mental health epidemic of anxiety disorders across the globe can take time, but efforts need to be taken one step at a time. Whether you are young or old, always remember that help is available no matter how long you’ve suffered from symptoms of intense fear and anxiety. 

Anxiety responds very well to timely treatment, after which people recover and can once again enjoy their lives. The sooner you seek help, the better it is for you and your loved ones!