Anxiety in a 7 year old?

Question

My oldest child is 7 years old. Until about a month ago she was a hyper active child, always on the go. Now it seems that she doesnt want to go to school or anywhere. She is screaming and yelling and upset all the time. Nothing in our house has changed in any way. She seems to have either anxiety or be depressed. i am not sure what to do about it. The doctors arent any help they jsut told me to let her sleep more. Any one know what to do about this, i really dont want her on medication but maybe something safe and herbal that might help.

Answer 1

I'm sorry but you need to find a child psychologist who knows what they're talking about. "Sleep more" is the most crack pot thing I've ever heard. Obviously your child is distressed and whether it's physical or mental or just emotional strain from something then the doctor should give you more insight than "let her sleep more". Doctors usually won't prescribe medicines to children this young but instead will recommend a specific form of therapy/counseling or some other remedy. The truth is we just don't know what medicine will do to children in the long run. There aren't any tests because who would want to endanger their child and you really can't know without scientific proof. Maybe talk to her teacher as well. You never really know what interactions could be having with other children that could be upsetting her. I wish you the best of luck and I hope your daughter feels better.

Answer 2

My friend went through this with her son, and my daughter has had some anxiety and sadness, but not to such an extent as your child or my friend's son who was unable to leave the house for awhile there because he was feeling so much anxiety. We've both taken our children to a good child psychiatrist. A lot of parents shy away from this or are afraid of the stigma, but they really can help, they are a health-care provider just like any other. Ask for suggestions from your pediatrician and try the counseling route before you start with medication of any kind, even herbal medications can be dangerous. Good Luck.

Answer 3

there are two herbs that have actually been shown in multiple studies to relieve anxiety and depression, and unlike traditional drugs, they have none of the common side effects like sexual dysfunction, and weight gain. they are: 5-HTP and SAMe.

i have been diagnosed with ADHD, depression, and a slew of other disorders, and i was medicated starting at age 8. because of this, there are whole years literally, of my life, i cannot remember. when i was 14, i realized i couldnt remember 12 at all, and there were only bits and peices of 11 and 13 i could recall. i ran away, and never looked back. i spent a year and a half going through withdrawls from the medications. everything from tremors, lack of apetite, headaches, stomache aches, inability to feel normal emotions. it was awful. after that, i started feeling better, but have struggled with depression up til now. im 22. ive been afraid to go see a doctor for the depression, because i really dont want to get all fuzzy and groggy again. so i started researching natural methods. 5-HTP was the first thing i tried, because it works in the same way that the traditional medications i was on worked, by increasing seritonin. it works like this. you have tryptamines, (removed from the market in the us due to manufacturer problems.) which are converted in the brain into hydroxy tryptamines, (5-HTP, a direct precurser to seritonin.) which are then converted into seritonin in the brain. seritonin increases happiness, helps sleep problems, levels moods, etc. i started taking it a month ago, and havent had a single bad day since, though in the morning before i take my pill, im a bit grumpy. i noticed no side effects except a slight feeling of fuzziness for the first hour after taking it, and strange dreams, which were reported by many peple taking it. im taking 100 mg a day, but alot of the adults taking it are taking 200 or 300 mg. i read one testimonial of a woman whos son was having depression problems, and she had him on 50 mg. i was going to try SAMe after reading so much good about it as well, but this is working so well, im gonna wait til i need to take a break. they say that you can form a tolerance to 5-HTP (not an addiction, a tolerance.) so the doctors recommend taking it for three months on, two weeks off. after my three months are up, ill take my two week break with SAMe. do some research, anything natural is bound to have fewer and milder side effects.

Answer 4

I know you said you have taken her to doctors, but have you tried a child or family psychologist? That might help a little bit. Maybe your daughter is just over-exended from being "on the go" You say nothing at home has changed, but maybe your daughter needs a rest--a break from activities after school.

One important thing you NEED to do is talk with her teachers. hey may have noticed this change in behavior, or they may even know the cause. Teachers don't always communicate these concerns immediately becasue they are still assessing the situation. Schedule a conference with them and get them on the same page as you. Teachers are fairly familiar with many behaviors and may be a great resource for you.

One last thing--have you tried sitting down and asking your daughter what is bothering her? She might know--she might not. But it is valuable to treat her with the respect you would give another adult and talk with her calmly--no yelling, arguing or punishing.

Answer 5

You need to get to the bottom of this asap. Try talking to one of her friend's mother and see if she can get something out of her daughter. Is there someone else, outside your house that is close to your daughter - if there is then they could try and have a very informal chat with her - maybe during a walk in the park or even taking her somewhere fun and halfway through the day having this chat with her.
If you feel that it could be something physical or mental (no offense), then you should try another doc and then another one until somebody does something to at least investigates into the situation.
Good Luck and hope it is nothing serious.

Answer 6

Ok there is more going on, but rather then getting in on all that, I'll just give you a remedy.


Find yourself a place and a time. It has to be the same time every single day. If in the morning it should be at least an hour after both of you have woken up. The place has to be a quite place free of distraction. If there is a window, the blinds need to be closed. No TV, radio, or other distraction.

Sit on the floor facing each other and place your hands in your laps. Have her close her eyes and breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth in big deep breathes 10 times. Then have her breath normally except in through her nose and out through her mouth. She needs to count her breaths.(she only needs to go to 10 and then start over at one) After a minute have her squeeze her toes as you count to 10, and then relax for 10. Then have her flex her calves for 10 then relax for 10, keep moving up the body flexing and relaxing until you get to the eyes and after that a bit of silence. From here, my favorite thing was to go on a "journey", my mother (and in later years my instructor) would have me imagine being on a beach feeling the water flow in, as I breathed in, flow out as I breathed out, sometimes we would fly around the town, through clouds or waterfalls. If imagination isn't your thing you could instead sing to her (accapella, and with your voice), or tell her a story (not read, but tell a life event of your past).
This process should take between 45min to 1 hour at first. When it is time to be done, just have her open her eyes and talk to you. Don't move for a couple of minutes, both of you will want to savor the moment for a bit.


That which I described above is a form of meditation. After a month or two, your daughter will not need to "flex" to relax a muscle, just breathing for 10 counts while letting tension flow out will be enough. This will cut down the amount of time you will need to spend. After your daughter becomes familiar with this, you should try to also meditate with her as well, and after several months she may help you with the counting or the "trips".

This is by far the safest thing that you can possibly do. It will give your daughter and you some 1on1 time, a chance to relax in a safe place, and it will help you to better understand her.

Good luck, and have fun.

Answer 7

You would be surprised on how many kids get depressed or have anxiety over the smallest things. Like friends or school. I think she is just stressed out and maybe she should go see a counselor that is for children. Good Luck and do NOT panic everything will work out!

Answer 8

Has she been screened for possible diabetes? How is she sleeping at night? Changes in behavior could be indicative of something happening emotionally, but it could also be something physical. Try to see if there is a correlation between the time that she eats and the yelling and screaming. Something that could be a possibility.

Answer 9

I have three kids and usually they want to go to school but on occasion they have decided they didn't want to go because they felt someone was picking on them. Either a teacher or a student. Where your child won't go anywhere I wonder if she didn't see something on the news or over hear an adult conversation that she misinterpreted as a safety issue for herself. Try asking her if she is afraid of something. And if she won't say make a joke of it for example are you afraid aliens are going to transport you to the moon while you are at school? Think of few silly scenarios to try and get her talking. I'd steer clear of meds where clearly this is a recent and dramatic change.

Answer 10

You should find a good child psychologist or a therapist. My son suffers from ADHD and anxiety and he had to start therapy. I am very against medication unless absolutely necessary as well, but it helped him to get some thoughts out, and helped us know what to do to help him. It could be anything, a bully, feeling like she isn't doing well in school. Talk to her, and again, I strongly suggest a therapist.