



to school, homework, gradually increasing responsibilities, and all the rest of it. Nonetheless, when children anxiety becomes too serious, it takes good parents to spot it. A little bit of childhood anxiety can be all right, but too much may be downright crippling.
Sometimes, a potentially serious psychiatric condition is mistaken for normal anxiety in children. A common condition is obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. Childhood OCD is on the rise for reasons that people don't really understand, and if your child has this crippling condition, it's crucial that you get them treated right away. Obsessive compulsive disorder is one of the hardest things in life to deal with. It makes every activity a struggle, and every event worrisome. It can include obsessive hand washing, counting the cracks when you walk, or any other kind of behavior that becomes an repetitive obsession.
Of course, sometimes children anxiety has more routine causes. Some children are just naturally anxious. There is no simple reason for this, but there are some ways to help. Don't just assume that kids are tough and that everything is going to be okay for them. Talk to your child. If he or she has a lot of worries, and make him or her know that you are there to help. However, sometimes parental help is not enough. My sister, for example, had serious problems with children anxiety as she was growing up. Eventually, she had to see a psychiatrist. It took years of therapy, but the treatment did make her better.
In my case, children anxiety was secondary to another common childhood condition. You see, I had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD. This made it difficult for me to sit still, accomplish simple tasks, and behave well in class. Although exercising and proper diet helped a little bit, they were not enough. I worried all the time, and felt like a failure every day. I did not end up getting any counseling, and as a result I had a lot of trouble as I grew up. A little bit of help at that time might have gone a long way.
Some degree of anxiety in children is normal. Everyone knows how hard it is to grow up, although some of us forget it sometimes. Think of all of the stresses of childhood. You have to get used to everything around you for the first time. Even the most normal social situations can seem stressful to a little kid, and then there is the worry of going