http://momshomeroom.msn.com/parenting-videos/social_issues/helping-your-child-conquer-anxiety/61?&utm_campaign=Episode%205%3A%20Big%20Day%2C%20Big%20Fears...Conquering%20Anxiety&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=Anxiety%20Symptoms&utm_term=symptoms%20of%20anxiety%20in%20children
This video includes an interview with child psychologist, Dr. Chanskey, who has been working with children that have emotional disorders for many years. According to Dr. Chanskey, some children are very verbal about their anxiety disorder and will alert their parents when they have a huge fear about doing something or if they are extremely worried about something. Other children who aren't able to express themselves verbally may cry at night and seem sad for no apparent reason, so it does help if parents are aware of anxiety signs that children often portray. Anxiety in children usually has to do with something at school because school is their life and where they spend most of their day. This was actually not what I was expecting to hear because I always thought that emotional disorders were more commonly developed after a traumatic experience outisde of the school setting such as mental or sexual abuse in the home.
According to the psychcentral website, people with anxiety will suffer from three out of the following six symptoms:
This answers my question, How does emotional distress affect a child's behavior in the classroom, because if a child is not getting enough sleep and has difficulty concentrating, their preformance in school is going to suffer. Elementary children generally need at least ten hours of sleep a night, so if a child is not getting at least ten hours a sleep most nights, they will be too tired to participate and learn in the classroom. During my internship, there was a child who was extermely smart and was at the top of the class academically. However, she would constantly fall asleep and would have to be woken up during seatwork more times than not. Most of the time, my mentor would allow the child to sleep, sometimes one to two hours, while the other students were working. I'm sure that teachers and other professionals within school districts have mixed emotions about how to best handle this situation. I personally agree with my teacher allowing this child to sleep because the child would be able to actively participate for the remainder of class once she was able to sleep for an hour or so. Whenever my teacher wouldn't allow her to sleep, the child would be irritable and act out for most of the day. My teacher tried numerous times to explain to the child's parents that she needed to get more sleep at night because her preformance in class was suffering from it. The parents didn't seem concerned and the child continued to come into class exhausted. Teachers can only do so much when it comes to controlling what goes on in a students home and, in my opinion, a child's physical health is more important than academics, especially at such a young age.
As I continued my research about anxiety in children, I came across this wonderful website that includes articles and rating scales for observing/diagnosing children with an anxiety disorder. The website is: http://www.scaswebsite.com/index.php?p=1_1
I am learning so much from my research. I knew that there was a lot of information out there, but I had no idea about how effective this information will be for me when I have a classroom of my own with students suffering from emotional disorders. I will continue my blog by answering the same questions about conduct disorder for my next post :)
Megan,
ReplyDeleteI've had a similar experience as you. In my internship there were two children in the other third grade classes who would come to school and be completely exhausted and the teachers would let them sleep. I know that they were diagnosed with emotional disorders, so now this makes more sense to me why the teachers would allow that. I also wonder how much of it is due to the disorder and how much is caused by a tumultuous home life because I know that both of those children had it rough at home.
I know that when I'm feeling anxious about something, I often experience the symptoms you listed, so I cannot imagine how it would feel to live with a disorder that makes you feel that way all the time. It has to be tough for the family to have to deal with a child who might be restless or have difficulty focusing. Is there a cure or treatment for children with anxiety disorders?
Sarah L.