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Childhood Panic Disorders Article
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Panic Disorders or Anxiety Attacks in 5 Year Old Boys
from: Conquer Anxiety and DepressionPanic disorders or anxiety attacks in 5 year old boys do occur, but identifying them as such can be more difficult than in adults. Children with panic disorders are unfortunately often misdiagnosed as having attention deficit disorder. Sometimes they are diagnosed as having hyperactivity. The reason is because the symptoms of panic or anxiety attacks can mimic the symptoms of attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity.
Panic disorders are unexplained episodes that happen more than twice. Anxiety attacks are episodes that happen for a reason or can be identified as having a specific cause. The problem is identifying the cause. Panic disorders or anxiety attacks in 5 year old boys may or may not have a cause depending on the diagnosis, but either must be addressed. The difficulty lies in getting young children to adequately express themselves enough to make it clear what's happening.
Children worry just like adults, but it's when the worry turns into panic and begins to affect their ability to function, that it becomes a serious problem. Children may have panic attacks related to specific situations such as school or at home. They can also have panic disorders that are specifically related to anything in their young lives, but they are faced with the same problems as adults -- learning to deal with and control the attacks. Panic disorders or anxiety attacks in 5 year old boys require some patient analysis because children can act differently at home as compared to how they act in school.
Some of the more common reasons for panic disorders or anxiety attacks in 5 year old boys include separation anxiety and avoidance disorder. Young boys with panic disorders will have general anxiety that can't be directly related to anything in particular. But anxiety attacks in 5 year old boys can be related to things like fear of going to school and being separated from parents or fear of getting in trouble. It's sad to say that sometimes anxiety attacks are due to something the child is too embarrassed to talk about or is covering up such as abuse.
Panic disorders or anxiety attacks in 5 year old boys can reveal themselves in a number of ways. Sometimes the attacks may have many physical symptoms such as sweating or difficulty breathing. Other times, the symptoms may be more psychological but it can be difficult to get children to explain their fears -- especially if they don't have a specific cause. Children can have agoraphobia or fear of social situations. It's not unusual to know a parent who has had to talk a child out of a panic attack every occasion it's time to go to a birthday party at someone else's house.
When you become aware of panic disorders or anxiety attacks in 5 year old boys, the first most important thing to understand is you want to avoid minimizing the problem. Just like adults, to solve the problem requires some patient instruction in relaxation and emotional control.
Childhood Panic Disorders News