Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder refers to a state of constant and intense worry related to daily life. This condition can make it particularly difficult for children to control their worries and can cause them to worry about many different topics within the same day. Worries in generalized anxiety disorder can be related to every area of life, such as the child’s own and loved ones’ health, performance, country and world problems. Unlike adults, in children anxiety often manifests with physical symptoms. Children with generalized anxiety disorder usually make their first applications to pediatricians together with physical symptoms (such as pain, abdominal pain, headache, heart palpitations).

Restlessness, feeling tired, lack of energy, inability to focus on lessons, difficulty concentrating thoughts, and sleep problems also frequently accompany excessive anxiety. Because children and adolescents are in a state of excessive arousal, they may give excessive reactions. The prevalence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in children and adolescents is 3-5%.

The two most studied and most effective methods found in the treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder are cognitive behavioral therapy and medication treatments. In mild cases, the application of only cognitive therapy is recommended. In moderate and severe level problems, more positive results are achieved by applying cognitive behavioral therapy together with medication treatment. In younger age groups, due to the limited use of medication and because cognitive functions are not sufficiently developed, and the effectiveness of other therapies is low, the most appropriate option is play therapy.