Phobic anxiety disorder of childhood

Phobic anxiety disorder of childhood is a disorder characterized by increased fear. Fear in this case gets the level of the pathological condition leading to social disadaptation.

ICD-10 code

F93.1 Phobic anxiety disorder in childhood.

Causes

These disorders occur spontaneously or after a minor psychotraumatic situation, mainly in children with certain traits (anxious, fearful, prone to "getting stuck" in the sphere of unpleasant impressions, sensitive-schizoid).

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Symptoms

Children, like adults, may have fears that focus on a wide range of subjects and situations. For each phase of personality development, their fears are characteristic. Children of younger preschool age can be afraid of trees, insects, darkness, swaying from strong wind, etc. Older children often fear dogs, cats and other animals, darkness, etc.

About pathological fear can be said in cases where the degree of anxiety pathological - the child at the sight of the object of fear every time loudly screams, cries, comes to motor excitation, long can not calm down. The range of fears can expand due to new phobias - fear of leaving the house or sleeping alone, etc.

Diagnostics

The diagnosis is used only for fears specific to certain periods of development, when they meet additional criteria:

• beginning in the appropriate development of the age period;
• degree of anxiety pathological;
• anxiety is not part of a more generalized disorder.

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Indications for consultation of other specialists

If anxiety-phobic childhood disorder tends to persist for a long time, leads to social disadaptation, is not completely reduced during psychological and pedagogical intervention, additional psychiatric consultation is needed.

Forecast

Anxious-phobic disorder of childhood has a tendency to long-term preservation, but gradually it is completely reduced as the child grows up and with adequate medical and psychological-pedagogical intervention.

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