Child anxiety

My question deals with child anxiety's.  I am worried about our seven year old daughter. She is a middle child between anolder brother, ten and a younger sister, three. My wife and I are happily married.  We are your normal upper class family with plenty of money and a lot of love.  We started having problems with her in school in 1st grade and has remained a problem in 2nd grade.  She has had terrible night episodes,... screaming, running thru the house ect..  all while being asleep.  These last up to 1/2 hour, then she forgets about them.  She figets while doing shool work, is always tired.., fights with her brother and sister. We love her to death... telling all our kids several times a day that we love them is what we do.

Last summer we had her evaluated by a professional, She said our daughter suffers from Anxiety and depression and recomened drug treatments.  Before I would allow treatment I wanted to talk with the Doctor.  I our meeting the Doctor referred to our little girl as a BOY!!!  I just listend.  Now we are looking for a second opinion.  

She is now sighing alot (heavy breathing)...  is this another sign ?  Do you have a list of symtoms (symptoms) ?  any suggestions ???

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

It is perfectly sensible to seek a second opinion when the option of medication is at issue. Now, if the diagnoses are accurate, your daughter may derive significant benefit from medication.

The sighing, while not typical of children with depression, may be a symptom. With children, depression may be manifested more by irritability, volatility and anger, than by the type of melancholy or sadness that we often associate with depression in many adults. The nightttime behavior, more likely what is referred to as night terrors, is not symptomatic of depression, nor of other childhood disorders. Such episodes occur in many children who do not display any emotional disorder.

If there is a family history of depression, it increases the chances that a child will display the condition.

Anxiety in children can take many forms, including fears, nervousness, avoidance of certain situations, ritualistic behaviors, and many others.

[justme]

have her evaluated for sleep-disorders.  Insist on it.  Children with sleep-disorders (not only sleep apnea, although that's a big one for kids)function sleep deprived. Depression and anxiety problems often occur as the child gets older and more is expected.  you can try looking at sleepnet.com site (sandman's site), there's lots of information. Posts by me (spotness/spot, past narcolepsy forums) are regarding my 7 year old who has similar problems to what u've described. (He currently takes .5 mg clonazepam and it has all but eliminated the night events.  More importantly, after a few weeks of regular sleep, his anxieties, fears, impulsiveness, insecurities all went down. he was his old self)

We have no diagnosis yet, but possibilities for him are:  nocturnal seizures, possibly including celiac disease; narcolepsy; night terrors (atypical); tumor (unlikely, but not ruled out); thyroid disease (also not likely, but still possible); other brain dysfuntions.

Don't be afraid to get a second opinion, especially with potential sleep disturbances; few pediatricians are well-informed in this area. ps. if she snores or has asthma/allergies insist on testing for children's sleep apnea/sleep disordered breathing. It can make such a difference.

good luck