Anxiety in 9-yo DS
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Anonymous
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How/where do I educate myself on anxiety in this age group? Is the first step making an appointment w/ his ped?
I don't think he's stressed out by school but should I ask the teacher or counselor anyway? FWIW he also has attention and impulsiveness issues but no official ADHD diagnose. |
Anonymous
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My son is your child's age but his anxiety was apparent at a much younger age. We went to see a child psychologist who specializes in anxiety. It was very helpful. We eventually had a neuropsych exam and my child was also diagnosed with ADHD.
Starting with your ped may be helpful for recommendations but if you are worried, I recommend you try to talk to someone who can diagnose and work on the anxiety part. |
Anonymous
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Hi--likely your ped would suggest you take son to therapy. Do you feel his anxiety is interfering with your son's life at school and/or home? Is it all the time or can you tell what sets it off?
I'd start tracking his symptoms and keeping some notes so that you can adequately report to professionals what you are seeing. For my highly anxious son, we did 1 year of CBT and while it helped he was too anxious to reliably use the tools he learned. Then we started Zoloft and he's been so happy and doing great in school and home. My suggestion is to start with therapy if you feel the anxiety is persistent and unmanageable. Also pursue accommodations if you feel they will help your son. |
Anonymous
| OUr 10 yr old DD also suffers from anxiety. We started last year by taking her to a child psychologist, who she now sees weekly for CBT. After a few months, the psychologist recommended we see a psychiatrist. Our DD is now on a low dose of Zoloft (sertraline), still going to weekly therapy sessions, and doing very well. The combination of talk therapy + medication really has helped. |
Anonymous
| third day in a row today he didn't eat anything for breakfast except water and one sip of milk... but he said he's not stressed out about school. |
Anonymous
Could he have developed food allergies? |
Anonymous
| He may not really be able to make sense of his stress and anxiety. It is hard for kids on their own to really sort out the relationship between emotion, thought, behavior, context etc..if there isn't an obvious trigger. It could very well be school but he isn't connecting it because at school in each moment he is fine but there is underlying stress about school in general that he can't readily identify. |
Anonymous
| Can you take him to a developmental pediatrician? |
Anonymous
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A lot of kids with ADHD do develop anxiety, because they correctly perceive that they live in a fog. Some also have auditory processing issues, which only add to the stress, because now we have both academic *and* social side effects.
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Anonymous
any good ones in DC or NoVA? |