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ANXIETY?
I need help trying to figure out what's going on with my 7 year old boy. It started last week, he is always after me or his grandma. He does not want to stay by himself in a room. He doesn't play or watch TV like he used to do. He is just always following us around. He starts crying for any little noise that he hears. If my other little boy starts yelling, he starts to cry. He also says he just wants his eye to stop blinking. He has lost of appetite. I'm wondering if this anxiety??
OH MY GOSH!! I am so sorry to hear this dear. I'm glad they found the cause but am so sorry it is so serious. I hope the underlying cause of the inflammation is treatable and isn't hard to treat. ugh, and so sorry for the speech issues. I'm sure as a parent that is very scary. They can do SO much now to help children once a neurological issues is found though. You and your son will be in my prayers. Thanks for updating. peace
All this weird behavior my son had and the tantrums wasn't from anxiety attacks. It was this infection he had going on his brain called acute disseminating demyelinating encephalomyelitis. This past weekend he started having seizures and was admitted to the hospital. I would of never thought he was going through so much inside of his body. He had and MRI, EEG and lumbar puncture done on him. The neurologist told me that's why he was acting different because he has inflammation in the brain. Now we are waiting for answers on what disease caused this infection and if its curable or not. He hasnt talked to us since Saturday. He has trouble trying to speak. They said he is going to need speech therapy and maybe rehab. This is the most difficult thing I had to go through in my life. I just pray that my little boy can be back to his normal self.
Ahh. Ya know, in second grade my son played contact football. A very stressful experience for him. What a macho sport and coaches often act like these young kids are in high school. I'm sure that is a bit of it and possibly that school is about to begin. Is school easy for him or difficult? How are his friendships? I would get him started in school and if the issues continue, I would absolutely seek out the help of a child psychologist. You want him to have coping strategies to overcome the anxiety! good luck and let us know how it goes.
He is starting 2nd grade next Monday. He hasn't seen any scary movies or etc. He recently started playing football and the last day he went to practice he started crying saying he didn't know how to play, that he would be the last one running(he is a little overweight). So after that day I stopped taking him. But now he is starting to stutter and he will be asking me the same questions over and over again. I'm wanting to take him to see his doctor or just wait and see if he will forget about it soon.
Great replies, and great ideas of things to consider! Children absolutely can exhibit anxiety without there necessarily being something really big and scary going on (like a mental illness). It's of course normal as a parent to worry about your child.
I was an anxious kid during my whole childhood, and did later on end up diagnosed with panic disorder, but my anxiety was unrelenting and nothing my parents did made a difference. It wasn't a fleeting "here and there" thing. THAT kind of chronic anxiety (typically) would be a daily struggle and very obvious.
Like the others said above, many times for a child, anxiety can present if there was a trigger. I'll give you an example. My son (7) is a very easy going, non anxious child for the most part. All of sudden, we noticed behavioral changes, actually a lot like what you describe, he became clingy, anxious, afraid at bedtime. We finally after much prodding got him to admit he was fearful as a result of playing a video game that was probably a tad bit old (mild cartoon violence) for him. We really went back and forth when deciding if we should let him play it, and overall it wasn't too horribly bad, but it DID end up being too much. We quickly explained that this was our fault, that we used poor judgement, that we had our doubts for a reason. THAT in itself helped a lot as I think he felt like he was wrong to be scared.
I'll tell you though, he only played that game a few times in about a 2 week period, but the anxiety and clingy fearful behavior and even some bad dreams persisted for months. It really took him a while to bounce back. Absolutely take a good inventory of recent events, and things he's exposed to. Also, upcoming events (like school) also may be a big trigger. Just sit him and down and talk to him. He's old enough, he should be okay talking to you about it. Our son was very honest with us and understood the nature of the conversation and what we were asking, and my son is the same age. He'll be 8 in November.
Definitely if it continues, have him seen by your pediatrician and go from there.
Best of luck to you!
I was an anxious kid during my whole childhood, and did later on end up diagnosed with panic disorder, but my anxiety was unrelenting and nothing my parents did made a difference. It wasn't a fleeting "here and there" thing. THAT kind of chronic anxiety (typically) would be a daily struggle and very obvious.
Like the others said above, many times for a child, anxiety can present if there was a trigger. I'll give you an example. My son (7) is a very easy going, non anxious child for the most part. All of sudden, we noticed behavioral changes, actually a lot like what you describe, he became clingy, anxious, afraid at bedtime. We finally after much prodding got him to admit he was fearful as a result of playing a video game that was probably a tad bit old (mild cartoon violence) for him. We really went back and forth when deciding if we should let him play it, and overall it wasn't too horribly bad, but it DID end up being too much. We quickly explained that this was our fault, that we used poor judgement, that we had our doubts for a reason. THAT in itself helped a lot as I think he felt like he was wrong to be scared.
I'll tell you though, he only played that game a few times in about a 2 week period, but the anxiety and clingy fearful behavior and even some bad dreams persisted for months. It really took him a while to bounce back. Absolutely take a good inventory of recent events, and things he's exposed to. Also, upcoming events (like school) also may be a big trigger. Just sit him and down and talk to him. He's old enough, he should be okay talking to you about it. Our son was very honest with us and understood the nature of the conversation and what we were asking, and my son is the same age. He'll be 8 in November.
Definitely if it continues, have him seen by your pediatrician and go from there.
Best of luck to you!
Did anything happen about a week ago that might have created security issues for your son? It sounds like an event or situation may have triggered this behavior. If worse comes to shove, you might want to have him evaluated by a doctor.
Hi there. Well, he's 7. Is he getting ready to start school again? That sure can create anxiety for a child. What grade is he going into?
My own son has a great deal of anxiety. He's now 9. We all get a little nervous as school approaches but for him, it's different. I have to be very mindful of it.
I try to stay very positive. I also allow him to express how he is feeling in a safe way. Then I help provide some strategies that might ease his worries. There are books written for kids on this if you are interested in some titles. Not just back to school anxiety but general anxiety kids may have.
The jumping to noises is a classic sign of anxiety. That he is afraid to be alone, clingy, and not wanting to do his usual things all sound like a bit of mental health struggle going on since it is new.
One other question. I would think about the past couple of months if he has seen something scary like a movie, read a scary book like Goosebumps or something like that, etc. Kids have vivid imaginations and fear can really take hold. And a worse thought is if someone has hurt him in any way. Just do some thinking if there was ever any opportunity for that and maybe some sensitive probing of questions to double check. Just to cover your bases.
Many kids do indeed have anxiety. My own son, when that same age and starting first grade had a good deal of anxiety as well. This is not my older son that has a history of anxiety. It was situational with school starting. He actually began wetting the bed at night and was having temper tantrums. We gave him extra love, got him used to the new schedule lovingly, and got him to bed earlier. It lasted for a couple of weeks and then got better. But first grade was his first experience of being gone all day from me and he was just struggling with that change.
I do wish you luck and hope it gets better soon. If you need resources for anxiety with kids, I'm happy to help. peace
My own son has a great deal of anxiety. He's now 9. We all get a little nervous as school approaches but for him, it's different. I have to be very mindful of it.
I try to stay very positive. I also allow him to express how he is feeling in a safe way. Then I help provide some strategies that might ease his worries. There are books written for kids on this if you are interested in some titles. Not just back to school anxiety but general anxiety kids may have.
The jumping to noises is a classic sign of anxiety. That he is afraid to be alone, clingy, and not wanting to do his usual things all sound like a bit of mental health struggle going on since it is new.
One other question. I would think about the past couple of months if he has seen something scary like a movie, read a scary book like Goosebumps or something like that, etc. Kids have vivid imaginations and fear can really take hold. And a worse thought is if someone has hurt him in any way. Just do some thinking if there was ever any opportunity for that and maybe some sensitive probing of questions to double check. Just to cover your bases.
Many kids do indeed have anxiety. My own son, when that same age and starting first grade had a good deal of anxiety as well. This is not my older son that has a history of anxiety. It was situational with school starting. He actually began wetting the bed at night and was having temper tantrums. We gave him extra love, got him used to the new schedule lovingly, and got him to bed earlier. It lasted for a couple of weeks and then got better. But first grade was his first experience of being gone all day from me and he was just struggling with that change.
I do wish you luck and hope it gets better soon. If you need resources for anxiety with kids, I'm happy to help. peace
It sounds like something serious is going on with him. Please get him to a doctor to be sure it isn't something physical, then to a child psychologist as soon as you can. Blessings - Blu
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