It seems like there has been a pronounced increase in younger kids with profound anxiety

[Anonymous]

I realize this is anecdata, but it is striking to me how many kids I personally know under the age of about 12 who have diagnosed anxiety that significantly affects their daily living. I am not a child psychiatrist, although I am in health care, and even I can see the obvious manifestation of the symptoms in the handful of kids I see regularly. I would go so far as to call them debilitating.

Has this been anyone else's observation? I feel, unscientifically, that there has been an uptick in this condition among children in the last 20 years or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I realize this is anecdata, but it is striking to me how many kids I personally know under the age of about 12 who have diagnosed anxiety that significantly affects their daily living. I am not a child psychiatrist, although I am in health care, and even I can see the obvious manifestation of the symptoms in the handful of kids I see regularly. I would go so far as to call them debilitating.

Has this been anyone else's observation? I feel, unscientifically, that there has been an uptick in this condition among children in the last 20 years or so.

Yes. Who knows what is to blame. Could be lifestyle, GMO food, too many vaccines.... Have definitely noticed this and it is extremely concerning to me. It's almost as if it is a normal event to have a kid with some type of an issue.

[Anonymous]

A few ideas:

1. Less stigma to seeking help/talking about it

2. More online access to look up concerning symptoms and discuss with other people behind some level of anonymity

3. Is it possible you're reaching an age in your life where you have a "critical mass" of kids in your social circle and are exposed more to them? Not sure your age but there are a lot of things that are common but people don't notice them in their lives until they reach an age to be around it (example: "Everyone" getting married, "Everyone" having kids, a phase where lots of friends are getting divorced, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Kids have always been anxious. It's just pathologized/recognized/treated more now.

My grandfather, grandmother, and father all had severe anxiety as children. They were also all put on opiates. So it's not some new thing caused by (ugh, seriously?) vaccines.

In the past, parents tended to be much more hands-off (lots of unsupervised play time) and didn't necessarily notice the signs or get help. There's also a huge culture of medicating kids now that didn't exist in the past, and you can bet pharmaceutical companies benefit from increased "awareness" of psychiatric issues that lead to more prescriptions for their products.

[Anonymous]

I have a HFA kid and I think that now that Asperger's is no longer a diagnosis, a lot of these kids are being diagnosed with anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a HFA kid and I think that now that Asperger's is no longer a diagnosis, a lot of these kids are being diagnosed with anxiety.

+1. I think any rise in anxiety probably tracks the rise in autism diagnoses. Almost all kids with Aspergers seem to develop anxiety especially into their middle childhood years.

[Anonymous]

I think if school didn't expect so much and relatively minor behavior issues were considered part of boy childhood like when I was a kid, my child would not have been diagnosed with anxiety/ADHD. As it is, we have started medication because he cannot function in school to the standards that are required nowadays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids have always been anxious. It's just pathologized/recognized/treated more now.

My grandfather, grandmother, and father all had severe anxiety as children. They were also all put on opiates. So it's not some new thing caused by (ugh, seriously?) vaccines.

In the past, parents tended to be much more hands-off (lots of unsupervised play time) and didn't necessarily notice the signs or get help. There's also a huge culture of medicating kids now that didn't exist in the past, and you can bet pharmaceutical companies benefit from increased "awareness" of psychiatric issues that lead to more prescriptions for their products.

More importantly, you can bet that children benefit from getting the treatment they need. The fuck is wrong with you, pp? Are you one of these goddamned idiots who think we overmedicate children? Go crawl back under your rock.

[Anonymous]

I see a lot of kids with anxiety, too, but I also know a lot of adults who were like that as kids. My father had debilitating shyness ... that's what it was known as then. It would be called anxiety now. I was shy, my sisters were shy, etc. We avoided things because of it. All of that would be diagnosed as some kind of anxiety now. Medications or therapy would be offered. Back then it was just part of growing up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids have always been anxious. It's just pathologized/recognized/treated more now.

My grandfather, grandmother, and father all had severe anxiety as children. They were also all put on opiates. So it's not some new thing caused by (ugh, seriously?) vaccines.

In the past, parents tended to be much more hands-off (lots of unsupervised play time) and didn't necessarily notice the signs or get help. There's also a huge culture of medicating kids now that didn't exist in the past, and you can bet pharmaceutical companies benefit from increased "awareness" of psychiatric issues that lead to more prescriptions for their products.

More importantly, you can bet that children benefit from getting the treatment they need. The fuck is wrong with you, pp? Are you one of these goddamned idiots who think we overmedicate children? Go crawl back under your rock.

I think PP sounded perfectly reasonable. You, on the other hand, sound a bit unhinged.

[Anonymous]

My niece, who does not have special needs, has been taking an anti anxiety medication since she was eight. She's now 13.

She had severe separation anxiety and was having panic attacks at school. The medication has helped her tremendously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids have always been anxious. It's just pathologized/recognized/treated more now.

My grandfather, grandmother, and father all had severe anxiety as children. They were also all put on opiates. So it's not some new thing caused by (ugh, seriously?) vaccines.

In the past, parents tended to be much more hands-off (lots of unsupervised play time) and didn't necessarily notice the signs or get help. There's also a huge culture of medicating kids now that didn't exist in the past, and you can bet pharmaceutical companies benefit from increased "awareness" of psychiatric issues that lead to more prescriptions for their products.

More importantly, you can bet that children benefit from getting the treatment they need. The fuck is wrong with you, pp? Are you one of these goddamned idiots who think we overmedicate children? Go crawl back under your rock.

I think PP sounded perfectly reasonable. You, on the other hand, sound a bit unhinged.

Original PP here. PP who responded does sound unhinged. At no point did I say correct diagnoses or treatment was bad. What I said was that there is more awareness and treatment due to more hands-on parenting now, and there's a culture of medicating (and yes, overmedicating) kids. I think both of those things are true and nothing the fuck is wrong with me for saying so. Maybe responding PP is anxious and that's why she overreacted. I have anxiety (so do my kids, obviously it runs in the family), but found CBT to be better for me and my kids. That said, I think meds are appropriate for some -- but definitely not all -- of the kids identified as having anxiety. But to speak to OP's point, there's not a sudden explosion of anxious people being born/created, just identified/treated. And it's not vaccines (double ugh again).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of kids with anxiety, too, but I also know a lot of adults who were like that as kids. My father had debilitating shyness ... that's what it was known as then. It would be called anxiety now. I was shy, my sisters were shy, etc. We avoided things because of it. All of that would be diagnosed as some kind of anxiety now. Medications or therapy would be offered. Back then it was just part of growing up.

Shyness is normal part of growing up. Learning how to deal with it is important. But medicating kids for shyness is a mistake because then kids don't learn how to deal with shyness.

[Anonymous]

I think that we are lucky to live in an age where 1) there is greater awareness of conditions that were either brushed aside or put other labels on kids (a lot of kids with ADHD or LDs used to be labeled with a lot of other terms, for example); and 2) there are medications to help people with these conditions (I'm not one to condemn Big Pharma...) and for many, these meds are life-savers or game-changers.

I also think that he demands of the society in which we live (certainly here in DCUM Land) are so high that kids are having greater difficulty adjusting than in the past. Like everything else, it's a mixed blessing. Kids have both greater opportunities and more pressures.

[Anonymous]

It's a reflection of increased anxiety among parents. There is so much pressure to make the "right choice" at every stage. The intensity of competition in childhood, the fear of failure, all contribute to an increasingly anxious climate for children.

We look at Mad Men and laugh at (or are saddened by) the type of parenting we see. Up until very recently, our job was only to make sure our children didn't die on our watch. Easy breazy. Now, I'm required to be a psychologist, nutritionist, education specialist...etc., etc., ad nauseum!

Look at the threads here. They are filled with anxious parenting---from Expectant Moms through College.

We put so much more pressure on ourselves. It's not a surprise that you're witnessing more manifest anxiety in our young ones.