Everyone can expect to experience anxiety from time to time, but for some, including children, anxiety can overtake everything else and be a serious impediment to normal, everyday life. Researchers from Duke University offer clinical care for adolescents and children who suffer from a range of panic and anxiety disorders. In addition to providing primary care, they also conduct research to add to existing knowledge of the diagnosis, causes, and treatment of panic and anxiety disorders among young people.

Duke is hosting a presentation on childhood panic and anxiety disorders, with a specific emphasis on how to help an overly anxious child. Issues for discussion include the most recent effective approaches to treatment, dealing with symptoms such as school avoidance and test anxiety, and other problems that arise with panic and anxiety disorders among the young.

Doctors at Duke have found it important to differentiate for the public the normal type of anxiety that is a healthy part of life from the sometimes crippling, irrational panic and anxiety that is associated with the disorder. For example, a three years old fear of a monster hiding in the closet is to be expected at that age – a nine year old with the same phobia might be diagnosed with a more serious disorder.

A healthy level of anxiety keeps us safe and can help in focusing attention on the drive for success. But a panic and anxiety disorder occurs when these behaviors become a pattern lasting at least four weeks and interfering with normal activity that peers would have little trouble completing. When fears interfere with life over a substantial period of time, this is when one should consult the advice of a mental health professional and explore possible treatment options. Diagnosing children with disorders can be tricky given the vast differences among children at different ages, but an experienced professional should be able to call upon his or her judgment in making a determination.