8 Signs of Anxiety Disorder in a Toddler!
Anxiety disorder is a common mental health problem which afflicts 40 million adults (18 percent) in the United States. The mental disorder is not just limited to adults, even children and young adults may suffer from it. However, an anxiety disorder in a toddler can be a really challenging situation.
The signs of anxiety often go unnoticed in a toddler because of lack of knowledge and such a situation only exacerbates the case. Hence, it is paramount for parents to know about anxiety symptoms in a toddler.
Many of these symptoms can be dealt with at an initial stage that can help a child stay away from anxiety disorder later in life.
Here, we discuss eight such subtle signs of anxiety disorder in toddlers:
1. Phobias and fears: It is common for most toddlers to exhibit some fears about monsters, darkness, dinosaurs, etc. But a toddler with anxiety problem would have these phobias at a very high level. It is the heightened level of these fears in a toddler that differentiates between normal situation and anxiety problem.
2. Sensitive to noise: A major symptom is that an anxious toddler will be extra sensitive to many of the sounds that are normal to others. He or she may be visibly shaken to hear loud music or sounds of the vacuum, toilet flush and garbage disposal truck.
3. Unnatural liking for the routine life: Though most toddlers like to be in routine and a particular pattern of doing things, an anxious toddler would be more particular about a routine life. A slightest of deviation from the usual routine would make him or her jittery and restless.
4. Particular about clothes: Anxiety-ridden toddlers would be extremely finicky about their clothes and would not budge to wear something which they do not like. They could be very sensitive to certain things like the seams of their socks, the crease of their pants, and the like.
5. Not getting their hands dirty: They always prefer things to be spic and span and would not get into stuff which seems dirty. Anxious toddlers would always refrain from playing games that would make their hands dirty. They tend to keep their hands off dirt all the time.
6. Practicing numerous personal rituals: They are perfectionists and would like things to be accomplished in a particular way. They have certain expectations about things to be done and follow their own rituals, such as eating in a particular plate, greeting or being greeted by people in a certain way, keeping personal belongings in a particular way and others.
7. Fussy eater: It is normal for toddlers to be fussy eaters, so one can imagine how choosy a toddler with anxiety disorder would be. They simply take it to a different level. More often than not, they are likely to raise a hue and cry when given new food items.
8. Problem sleeping: It is not difficult to presume that with all of the above issues a toddler would always have problems in sleeping normally. They simply cannot sleep on their own and would need one of the parents by their side while sleeping. If not treated at the right juncture, this could pose serious problems later.
