Anxiety is a natural human emotion; everyone feels anxious or worried at times. We are all familiar with preschoolers who are frightened by the dark, have a variety of bedtime rituals and can get anxious at times of separation from a parent. Mild fear and anxiety are part of normal human development. However, a child or adolescent who experiences anxiety more strongly and more readily than others and worries excessively to a degree that interferes with his or her life may be struggling or may have an Anxiety Disorder.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health conditions in youth, with between 10-13% of kids struggling with excessive anxiety. The good news is that they are also among the most effectively treated mental health condition. Knowing how to identify anxiety and how to decide on next steps for your child will start here, where we provide you with the information you’ll need to better understand anxiety and provide resources to help you move forward.

Symptom Checker

Anxiety can take many forms. Some have fears of specific things, such as spiders, dogs, or heights. Others fear situations like being separated from a loved one or having to interact with others in a social setting. Some struggle with worry more generally – when there’s nothing specific they always worry about, but more that they have a tendency to worry about anything that might happen in the future or what they might have done wrong in the past.

There is a diagnostic catalog used by mental health professionals in the US called the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” or DSM developed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). The DSM helps us categorize types of anxiety because symptoms tend to cluster together and this helps us understand the origin, maintaining factors, and how best to treat the condition. We have provided a list of all of the types of anxiety here. Click on any of the categories on the left to browse and learn more about the symptoms, treatments, and find resources on each.

If you’re not sure where to start, take a moment to complete our “Symptom Checker.” By answering a few short questions, you will get some feedback about which categories to learn more about next.

Use the Symptom Checker

Child Anxiety Tales

The Child Anxiety Tales program is an online parent-training program designed to equip parents with skills and strategies they’ll need to help their children better manage anxiety. The program is based on the latest evidence in the treatment of child anxiety and on cognitive-behavioral principals shown to be effective in helping anxious youth. Child Anxiety Tales is an interactive and engaging program that can be completed at your own pace from the privacy and convenience of your own computer. It is not a treatment but an online educational program for parents.
Click below to view a demo or to learn more: