Depression And Anxiety In Kids

We like to believe that childhood is a happy, carefree time, that little ones have nothing weightier on their cheerful minds than the next video game or trampoline leap. The sobering reality is that anxiety and depression are sometimes childhood companions, obviously uninvited and unwelcome.
As their parents' lives grow more complex, the lives of children can easily become edgy and anxious, too.

Temple University's Child And Adolescent Anxiety Disorders Clinic Happily, there's a place in Philadelphia whose mission it is to diagnose and treat children with anxiety disorders. Eight therapists/clinicians are on the staff of Temple University's Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders Clinic, where Dr. Philip Kendall is at the helm. Dr. Kendall is an expert in this highly specialized field and has developed a national profile for the pioneering work done at Temple over the last two decades. Dr. Kendall began working with children who suffer from anxiety disorders at the University of Minnesota.

"Anxiety disorders affect an estimated 10 to 12 percent of youngsters from 7 to 17 years of age," noted Rinad Beidas, a master's level clinician and doctoral candidate at the clinic, where pre-screened youngsters are treated free of charge. "While many children can go through periods of low self-esteem and emotional struggles," explained Ms. Beidas, "the clinic is concerned with children who struggle with truly disabling anxiety and fears."

A common challenge for kids is social anxiety, according to Ms. Beidas. "It's the worry about being judged and accepted by others, but in some children this worry becomes impairing. They may be unwilling to join conversations or socialize in the most basic ways."

Generalized anxiety disorder can be just as disabling. It involves worries about everything - the world, crime, terrorists, school and family. "These patients are often like 'little adults,' explained the Temple clinician. "They may start worrying about getting into college in third grade."

Also treated at the Anxiety Disorders Clinic are children with separation anxiety, that is those who fear being apart from their parents or caregivers long after that anxiety is age-appropriate. Usually, it should end at about age 4.

The treatment approach at the Temple Clinic is based on cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) which teaches the youngsters to recognize the signs of anxiety, and then to implement the coping strategies they've learned. The therapist becomes the youngster's "coach," walking her through the situation and practicing how to handle it in real life.

Using grant money from the National Institutes of Health, the Temple Clinic also evaluated the treatment results when parents were actively involved in the therapeutic process, as compared to when they were not. Children tended to do slightly better in treatment with more parental involvement.

The good news: Treated anxiety in children resulted in a success rate of 72 percent. "It exists, and if untreated, it persists, emphasized Dr. Kendall. "But it IS treatable."