Identifying Anxiety and Stress in Young People

All children experience anxiety from time to time. This is normal and expected. Anxiety refers to a state of negative arousal, during which an individual feels fearful, worried, or apprehensive. When feeling anxious, a young people can experience negative thoughts like, "I'm going to fail," "Mom is going to get hurt," "Everyone will laugh at me." Along with negative thoughts, the individual also experiences physical sensations, such as racing heart, nausea, shortness of breath, and chest pain. Children and adolescents, particularly young children, may not be very good at identifying and expressing how they feel. Instead of saying, "I feel anxious," a child may report having an upset stomach or feeling bad.  More