Posts Tagged ‘tabs’

How to Spot Anxiety and Stress in Children

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Anxiety and stress in children is a common problem. As with adults, children respond differently to anxiety and stress depending on their age, individual personalities and coping skills. When it comes to anxiety and stress in children, younger grade-schoolers may not be able to fully explain their feelings whereas older kids may be able to say exactly what’s bothering them and why (though that’s no guarantee that they’ll share that information with mom or dad).

In most cases, fear and anxiety and stress in children change or disappear with age. For instance, a kindergartener who experiences separation anxiety may become a social butterfly who bounds into school in the later grades. A second grader who is afraid of the dark or is afraid of monsters may grow into a kid who loves ghost stories.

Once parents determine whether the stress or anxiety in their child is something temporary or a more deeply-rooted anxiety disorder, they can then find ways to handle stress and anxiety in children.

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Girls’ Math Skills Reflect Female Teachers’ Anxiety

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

Female elementary school teachers can inadvertently pass along their anxieties about mathematics to their girl students, according to new research from the University of Chicago. The study finds that teachers need more math training before they receive their teaching certificates.

Female elementary school teachers can unknowingly pass along their anxieties about mathematics to their girl students, who then score lower on achievement tests compared with boys in the same class, according to new research from the University of Chicago.

The yearlong study found that female elementary school teachers pass along their anxiety about math to girl students, which then undermines the students’ confidence in their own math skills. This can also cause girls to perform poorly in math-dependent subjects such as engineering and science.

The researchers conclude that teachers need more math training before entering the classroom.

The Chicago study found that many teachers—about 90 percent of the country’s elementary school teachers are women—receive their teaching certificate with little mathematics preparation. The teachers’ concerns about their own math skills are then passed along to girls in their classes. However, the study found that teachers’ anxiety does not impact boys’ math ability.

“Having a highly math-anxious female teacher may push girls to confirm the stereotype that they are not as good as boys at math, which in turn, affects girls’ math achievement,” writes Sian Beilock, an associate professor in psychology at the University of Chicago and the lead author of the study.

The study, “Female Teachers’ Math Anxiety Affects Girls’ Math Achievement,” was published in the Jan. 25 issue of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”

Along with Beilock, Stella Rowley, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, and two graduate students followed 17 first- and second-grade teachers, along with 52 boy students and 65 girl students, for 12 months. The study tested the students early in the year and found that both boys and girls were not affected by math anxiety.

Later in the year, the researchers found that as the teachers became more anxious about their own math skills, girls were more likely than boys to develop doubts about their own math skills. The study found the girls who were affected by their teachers’ concerns did worse on standard tests than boys and that some girls began accepting the stereotype that “boys are good at math and girls are good at reading.”

“Thus it may be that first- and second-grade girls are more likely to be influenced by their teachers’ anxieties than their male classmates, because most early-elementary school teachers are female, and the high levels of math anxiety in this teacher population confirm a societal stereotype about girls’ math ability,” writes Beilock.

The researchers conclude that programs that prepare teachers for the classroom should focus more energy and resources on developing the math skills of their teachers. Teachers also need help in coping with and overcoming their anxiety when it comes to math, according to the report.

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Types of Anxiety Disorders in Children

Monday, April 5th, 2010

What are the Types of Anxiety Disorders in Children?

Generalized anxiety disorder. Children who have generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, experience constant, excessive, and uncontrollable fears about any number of everyday things such as grades, family issues, performing well in sports, being on time, or even natural disasters. Children with generalized anxiety disorder may be more likely to be perfectionists. They may experience trouble sleeping, irritability, or find it difficult to concentrate at school.

Separation anxiety disorder. Toddlers frequently experience separation anxiety when a parent or caregiver leaves the room. As children get older and attend daycare, preschool or kindergarten, they can experience separation anxiety when they are dropped off by mom or dad. Separation anxiety usually goes away as children become acclimated to their new environment and caregiver or teacher. But even beyond kindergarten, a child can have trouble being separated from a parent and may experience excessive distress or anxiety. Grade-schoolers who have separation anxiety disorder may be reluctant to go to school or sleep alone. Children with separation anxiety disorder may also fear that something bad will happen to their parents or themselves when they are not together.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Children who have obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD, have frequent thoughts that they can’t control called obsessions. They may feel compelled to perform routines and rituals, called compulsions, to try to control their thoughts and ease their anxiety. For instance, a child with OCD may spend a lot of time performing rituals involving hand washing, counting, repeating words, or repeatedly checking and rechecking things to keep unpleasant thoughts, images, or feelings at bay.

Post-traumatic stress disorder. Children can develop post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, after witnessing or experiencing a life-threatening or traumatic event such as a robbery or a car accident. While it’s normal to be fearful, worried, or sad after experiencing a frightening event, many children may recover fairly quickly. However, some children — particularly those who experienced the traumatic event directly or who lack a strong support system at home — can develop PTSD. These children can continue to experience flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, depression, and intense fear and anxiety, and reenact the traumatic incident while playing. They may withdraw and avoid people, places and activities months after the traumatic event.

Phobias. Children with a phobia have an intense, extreme, and irrational fear of something specific, such as a dog, needles, or the dark. Other common phobias in children include fear of thunderstorms, flying, water, heights, and blood. Children with phobias are less likely than adults to be able to put their fears into proportion or realize that their fears are irrational.

If you suspect that your child may have an anxiety disorder, talk to your pediatrician and child mental health experts. Early diagnosis and treatment are important for effective treatment of anxiety disorders in children. Untreated anxiety disorders in children can have a negative effect on developing friendships and may lead to problems at school and low self-esteem.

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What Are Anxiety Disorders in Children?

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Anxiety is a normal and common part of childhood. In most cases, anxiety in children is temporary, and may be triggered by a specific stressful event. For example, a young child may experience separation anxiety when starting preschool or kindergarten. Or a child may see a scary movie or learn about a tragic news event and have trouble sleeping.

In some cases, however, anxiety in children can be persistent and intense, and can interfere with a child’s daily routines and activities such as going to school, making friends, or sleeping. When anxiety in children is constant and serious, and doesn’t go away with reassurance and comfort, it is classified as an anxiety disorder.

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Is Economic Anxiety Bipartisan?

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

The Atlantic’s Chris Good says that it is:

Gallup released findings today on economic confidence by state, and it appears anxiety doesn’t give a clear partisan edge one way or the other.

Conventional wisdom says that an improved, or improving, economy is good for President Obama and Democrats, while economic anxiety is bad for the president’s party. Of the 10 states with the highest confidence ratings, five voted for Obama in ‘08 and five voted for John McCain; of the 10 states with the least confidence in the economy, six voted for Obama and four for McCain.

Five minutes later, the commenter “jennis psycho” said:

Your thesis does not follow from the data you cite.

And jennis psycho is correct. Good falls prey to our old friend, the ecological fallacy.

Better data is actually sitting immediately to the right of Good’s blog post: the ABC/WP consumer confidence index. You click on that link, then you click on the pdf in the ABC story.

Here is the consumer confidence rating of the three partisan groups (no word on how independent leaners were classified, but I am guessing they were classified as independents):

Republicans: -46
Democrats: -51
Independents: -49

So the difference here are small — especially compared to the differences across income groups, where consumer confidence ranges from -75 among those making $15,000 or less to -6 among those making $100,000 or more. It appears that a lack of consumer confidence is bipartisan.

But the most recent numbers obscure an important trend that indicates partisanship is at work. If you compare Democrats now to one year ago, their consumer confidence has improved by 10 points. But Republicans’ confidence has declined by 12 points. A year ago, Democrats were 27 points “less confident” than Republicans. Now they are 5 points less confident. Independents, meanwhile, are virtually unchanged.

A while back, Andy and I wrote up this basic finding and a number of others under the heading “Red and Blue Economies. The broader point is this. Even if Republican and Democrats currently have similar views of the economy — “bipartisanship,” in Good’s terminology — partisan bias may still be at work.

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Buspar Potential For Withdrawal Reactions

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Buspar Potential for Withdrawal Reactions in Sedative, Hypnotic, Anxiolytic Drug-Dependent Patients

Because BuSpar does not exhibit cross-tolerance with benzodiazepines and other common sedative/hypnotic drugs, it will not block the withdrawal syndrome often seen with cessation of therapy with these drugs. Therefore, before starting therapy with BuSpar, it is advisable to withdraw patients gradually, especially patients who have been using a CNS-depressant drug chronically, from their prior treatment. Rebound or withdrawal symptoms may occur over varying time periods, depending in part on the type of drug, and its effective half-life of elimination.

The syndrome of withdrawal from sedative/hypnotic/anxiolytic drugs can appear as any combination of irritability, anxiety, agitation, insomnia, tremor, abdominal cramps, muscle cramps, vomiting, sweating, flu-like symptoms without fever, and occasionally, even as seizures.

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St. Patrick and the Current Climate of Anxiety

Friday, March 12th, 2010

This weekend, all across America, people will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Although the actual holiday falls on March 17th, Saturday will see parades taking place in nearly every major city in the nation. For many, St. Patrick’s Day is about four leaf clovers for good luck, leprechauns, and green beer. For others, it is a time to celebrate their Irish heritage. Even the President is getting in on it this year as “Obama” is being reimaged as “O’Bama.”

St. Patrick’s Day has held a special place in my heart for over thirty years. I do have a bit of Irish blood in me. McCoy was my father’s family name before he was adopted. But my fondness for the day has other origins. As a college student, I dropped into a bar in Kansas City on St. Patrick’s Day to have a mug of green beer. I ran into an old high school friend by the name of Bob Fulton. While drinking beer together Bob told me that authentic Christianity was not a religion, but a relationship. As far as I can remember, it was the first time someone shared that message with me. It took several years for what Bob was talking about to sink into my thick skull far enough to get me to stop and think about. But looking back, that is a day I will never forget.

It was only in recent years that I decided that if Presbyterians can have patron saints, I would make Patrick mine. This came as a result of reading Thomas Cahill’s excellent little book, How the Irish Saved Civilization.  Cahill writes about how Patrick was a fourth century bishop who left the comfort of England (yes, he was a Brit!) to become a missionary to the Emerald Isle. He walked the rugged country and made friends wherever he went, leading masses of Celts into a relationship with Jesus Christ. He also set up monasteries where people could come and pray and where the ancient manuscripts of the Bible were copied and preserved – along with many of the great classics of antiquity that were being burned on the continent. I’ve stood in the scriptoriums of several ancient monasteries and thought about those faithful monks laboring away in obscurity and the role they played in the preservation of the Bible. I even created a “virtual monastery” as an attempt to honor the tradition. You can access the site by clicking the “St. Bruno’s” link on this page.

The world could use a St. Patrick right now. Patrick had a faith that enabled him to thrive in difficult times. His most famous writing is often referred to as “St. Patrick’s Shield” or “Lorica.” It was a way he prayed to create protection around his life on a daily basis. As people who believe that God controls the future, not Wall Street, those of us who are followers of Jesus might consider using his prayer as a “battle cry” when we get out of bed in the morning. My favorite lines of the prayer are,

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

As you can see, Patrick had an amazing grasp of the presence of Jesus in his life. He believed that as he prayed these words, he would be praying a “shield” into place around his life. I am finding lately that I am allowing the prevailing sense of anxiety and dread that is currently permeating the world to get the best of me. Reading, praying, and reflecting on these words seems like a great way to counteract that tendency and get my mind back in tune with God’s point of view. For your enjoyment, I will also include the complete piece.

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4 Tips to Help You Acknowledge Anxiety and Fear

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

I believe one of the core tenants of simple living means questioning the status-quo. Asking questions about what is “normal” or what it means to live “the good life” can provoke a lot of anxiety and fear in all of us. I think it’s important to acknowledge those feelings and push them back.

When I get anxious or fearful, I try and think of a few core principles. The 4 tips below help me push past the emotion I’m struggling with and get unstuck.

1. Being uncomfortable leads to growth.

If you think something is important enough, sit with your anxiety. Ask yourself what you are afraid of and push back. Every situation I’ve been uncomfortable with has lead to growth. For instance, I started this blog over 2 years ago and it’s grown a little everyday. More readers visit and my writing has improved. But I still have to deal with the little voice that says:

Who do you think you are? You aren’t a writer. No one wants to read your stuff.

I listen to the voice, acknowledge it and keep writing. I hate being fearful or filled with anxiety, but I continue to push past those feelings. And that’s where the growth happens.

I’m not arguing that you shouldn’t listen to your intuition. Intuition is powerful. Especially if the little voice inside your head says: Hmmmm, you shouldn’t go down that dark alley.

Listening to your inner voice can be a good thing. But most of the time, I think the voice prevents us from reaching our full potential and doing work that matters. So our big ideas, like starting a small business writing and infusing art into every project fall to the side.

2. Acknowledge your anxiety and fear.

A lot can be said for acknowledging a feeling. Many people are either comfortably numb or extremely unhappy. So we mask our true feelings by consuming alcohol, drugs, watching television or going shopping. It’s so easy to get caught up in the external and not really understand why we’re walking around pissed off or anxious all the time.

3. Embrace the feeling.

By embracing anxiety or fear, you’ll be able to push it away and stop worrying. A feeling is just that, a feeling. They happen in moments and I believe we have a choice to move forward.

4. Push back the anxiety and fear.

Rather than focusing so much on consuming the next cool thing or worrying about what is going to come next, do something. Push back the fear and use your privilege to do something amazing.

You can change the world and make beautiful art. Life is too short to keep dreaming or be scared of failure. Stop worrying about the “what-if” scenario’s. The “what-if” line is fear or anxiety talking. Leave the lizard at the door.

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Flight 3407 Anniversary Likely to Trigger Anxiety and Grief

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Friday’s one-year anniversary of the crash of Continental Flight 3407 will almost certainly trigger anxiety and fear among those personally affected by the tragedy. And a University at Buffalo expert on trauma and loss says those with a less-immediate, but still important connection to the tragedy can also expect a recurrence of anxiety or grief.

“The first-year anniversary after a tragedy is always difficult,” says Nancy J. Smyth, dean of UB’s School of Social Work and a national expert on trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. “In this situation, it’s particularly difficult because certain aspects and qualities of the tragedy make it complicated.

“Safety practices were not what they should have been,” says Smyth. “The deaths might have been prevented. Family members of the victims may well have been stuck in feelings of anger and helplessness. And those feelings can make the grieving process that much harder and the anniversary date that much more painful.”

But the trauma, anxiety and depression surrounding the Feb. 12 anniversary date will be felt by others who somehow made a painful but meaningful connection to the crash, a tragedy that killed all 49 passengers and one person in the Clarence Center neighborhood where the plane came down. According to Smyth, these people, as well, need to prepare for what could be a reawakening of the pain and ordeal they experienced because they found something about the crash disturbingly relevant to their own lives.

“If they found something personal in this situation they connected to — maybe they strongly related to one of the victims or they often took a flight similar to this one — the anniversary of the crash may make them feel less safe in the world. This is much more likely if they have their own history of trauma, such as childhood abuse or growing up in a violent neighborhood,” Smyth explains. “Feeling anxiety on the anniversary of this crash will probably be puzzling to them, and it might only make sense when they can figure out that this current tragedy is resonating with their own past experiences.”

Smyth, who has written and lectured extensively on how people react to stress and the coping mechanisms that can make it easier to manage this anxiety, urges both groups at risk of feeling deep sorrow to “plan, expect that this will happen” as the anniversary of the crash approaches.

“Don’t fight it,” she says. “Dedicate some time and mental space to how you’re feeling. Don’t try to go through this week as if nothing happened. Recognize it and decide what you need to do to commemorate this event in your life.

“Death of a loved one is very personal. This could be a time to write a letter to the person who died. People who have done this say this can be a helpful thing to do. Or it can be a religious service, or gathering with a group of people that have gone through a similar experience.

“It’s more a point of taking the time to ask yourself, ‘What do I need to do?’ rather than a matter of something being right or wrong.”

Everyone expects the families of those killed in the crash to re-experience their sorrow and loss. But others — whether they are the people who saw the crash in their neighborhood, or the first responders, or the volunteers who helped look for remains of the victims, or people who lived through a frightening airline experience or through other traumatic events — these people should also expect the one-year anniversary will probably awaken painful feelings they thought had been resolved, according to Smyth.

“The most healing way to use this anniversary date is often to honor the person who died in whatever way is most useful and appropriate to that person experiencing that grief,” Smyth says. “However, if you find yourself getting anxious or depressed when this anniversary comes, and it’s not making any sense because you’re thinking, ‘I didn’t live through this,’ it’s a good time to seek out a therapist familiar with trauma. Those therapists can quickly help you understand how this tragedy relates to your life and your experiences, and then work with you so that these feelings get resolved.”

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB’s more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.

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Children Anxiety

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Our Daughter is Suffering From Anxiety But We Don’t Know Why!

Our daughter is nine years old. She has always been shy but still has a core group of friends she plays with regularly. Lately she seems to have developed an anxiety that we can’t put our finger on. She’s doing very well in school and seems to look forward to going. She has after-school activities such as ballet and swimming which she enjoys. We have brought her to the doctor and she doesn’t seem to have any medical problem, but recently she has been crying and complaining of abdominal pains.

If there is anything bothering her she seems unable to tell us what it is. We regularly give her reassurance and let her know she can talk to us if anything is wrong. Her grandmother died 10 months ago and, although she was very close to her, we are unsure whether this is bothering her now, as she has not been particularly upset in recent months. Apart from that there have been no other major changes in her life.

Her teacher assures us she is doing fine, although she is still shy in class and never initiates conversations. We have no idea what can be causing the anxiety and would be grateful if you have any thoughts on the issue.

A: I don’t have any great insights into why your daughter may be experiencing the anxiety that you describe. However, I do have some ideas that may help you to explore the area with her even though she has seemed “unable” to tell you so far.

Children feel unable to discuss their feelings – or what is causing them to feel the way they do – with their parents for several reasons. Sometimes they simply don’t know the words or don’t understand the feeling and can’t articulate the difficulties that they are having. Sometimes they are afraid that they will disappoint their parents if they tell them (for example, they fear their parents will think they are stupid or incapable of explaining). Sometimes they are too ashamed or embarrassed by their feelings or the source of their feelings. Sometimes they fear that they will make a bad situation worse if they tell their parents (for example, if they have been threatened not to tell by a bully). Finally, sometimes younger children assume that their parents already magically know the reasons and so there is no need to explain it.

So bear this in mind when talking to your daughter. Start by suggesting to her that tummy pains often come from being worried about things and that we can get the pains even when we don’t know what we are worried about. This gives her permission to “not know” why she feels as she does.

Then talk to her about some reasons that you know about why other children have been worried. Within this you can list a whole range of anxiety-provoking things like fear of failure (not doing well in school), feeling overwhelmed by homework, missing someone who is dead, being bullied or picked upon, feeling that school work is too hard, not knowing how to be comfortable in a big group of children, and so on.

Providing multiple choice options like this can allow children to choose the best fit for them. If she does identify that any of the suggested reasons make sense to her then you just continue to explore the issue in an empathic way. Don’t judge her feelings (for example, avoid statements like “that’s a silly reason to be afraid”), just acknowledge that they are there. Try not to rush into solving a problem that she might identify. Often children just want their problem to be understood by someone else initially, and then later work out a solution themselves or look for the help to do so.

After listing a range of anxiety-provoking situations it is possible that she will identify that none of the suggested reasons seems to fit. However, if none fit and you then ask, “Mmmm, I wonder what else it might be then?” in a genuinely open and inquisitive way, many children will have a go at naming the anxieties they have because they are encouraged by the level of understanding their parents have already shown, or because they can get one up on us because we didn’t guess the right reason.

If, even then, she still has not been able to identify the reason, you can take the pressure off her by saying, “Okay, well if you feel worried and we don’t know why then it must be because it is a tricky worry and we’ll just have to wait until we understand it better. But I have confidence that together we can sort it out; it might just take time.” You can even suggest some of the reasons why worries are hard to talk about and to understand, from the list I gave earlier.

In this way you leave the door wide open to continue to explore the source of the anxiety, but you also give her a very clear message that you are simply on her side, supportive of her and willing to go at her pace.

As you then wait over the next days or even weeks you may find that the seeds of exploration you have sown can unconsciously prompt your daughter to be more alert to her real feelings and the source of them or that other, third-party information comes to light which may illuminate a cause.

Whatever happens, be mindful of the fact that, as parents, we can’t solve all of our children’s problems. Struggling through worries, fears, difficulties and upsets is a normal and important part of every child’s development. Overcoming those situations, alone or with support, can give a child a great sense of confidence and self-belief.

While I can absolutely understand your desire to help and to eradicate the anxiety, it is good enough to simply be available. As long as you stand beside her and give her the clear message as you do that you are always willing to help then it may be as much as you can do and as much as you need to do.

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