What anxiety actually looks like
Anxiety doesn’t always look like fear. In kids, it often shows up as anger, stomachaches, clinginess, or flat refusal to do ordinary things. Underneath is a nervous system stuck in alarm mode.
- Constant “what if” worrying that’s hard to switch off
- Stomachaches, headaches, or trouble sleeping with no medical cause
- Meltdowns or shutdowns before school, tests, or social events
- Avoiding activities, places, or people they used to be fine with
- Needing lots of reassurance — the same question, again and again
- Panic: racing heart, shortness of breath, a feeling of dread that comes out of nowhere
- Perfectionism and fear of making mistakes
The many faces of anxiety
“Anxiety” is really a family of conditions. We treat all of them:
Generalized worry
Chronic, wide-ranging worry about school, health, family, and the future.
Social anxiety
Intense fear of judgment — raising a hand, joining a group, being watched.
Panic
Sudden, physical waves of fear that can feel like an emergency.
Separation anxiety
Distress at being away from parents, at any age.
School refusal
When anxiety makes getting to school feel impossible.
Selective mutism
A child who talks freely at home but can’t speak in certain settings.
Specific phobias
Outsized fear of a particular thing — dogs, needles, vomiting, storms.
Trauma & stress
Anxiety rooted in a frightening or overwhelming experience.
How it changes with age
Younger children
Clinginess, tantrums, tummy aches, bedtime fears, trouble separating, or going quiet in new settings.
School-age kids
Reassurance-seeking, avoidance, perfectionism, morning refusal, and physical complaints on school days.
Teens
Social withdrawal, panic, over-scheduling and burnout, and worry that masquerades as irritability.
College-age young adults
Test and performance anxiety, homesickness, avoidance of independence, and panic under pressure.
When to get help
A little anxiety is normal and even healthy. It’s time for an expert look when worry starts shrinking your child’s life — when they’re avoiding school, friends, or activities, when the physical symptoms are constant, or when the whole family is organizing itself around a child’s fears. Anxiety treated early rarely becomes anxiety carried into adulthood.
How we evaluate anxiety
- An unhurried conversation about your child’s worries, patterns, and daily life
- Understanding what the anxiety is protecting against — and what it’s costing
- Ruling out overlap with ADHD, learning issues, sleep, or trauma
- A clear, plain-language explanation of what’s going on and what will help
How we treat it
The gold standard for childhood anxiety is therapy — specifically approaches that gently help a child face fears instead of avoiding them. Because Dr. Adam is trained in both therapy and psychiatry, we can add or adjust as needed.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) — the most evidence-backed treatment for anxiety
- Exposure therapy — facing fears in small, winnable steps, so avoidance loses its grip
- Selective mutism & social-anxiety support — structured, gradual practice with speaking and connecting
- Parent training — how to support a child without accidentally feeding the anxiety
- Trauma-focused care when stress or trauma is part of the picture
- Medication, when it’s warranted — used carefully, and never the automatic first move
Why families choose us for anxiety care
- The same doctor every visit — trust matters enormously for an anxious child
- Same-week appointments , because an anxious kid can’t sit on a waitlist for months
- Reachable between visits — for the hard mornings and the 9pm spirals
- Parents coached as partners , so progress holds at home
Often seen alongside
Your doctor
Dr. Antoine Adam, MD, MS, board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist, sees your family at every visit.
Questions parents ask
Should I push my anxious child, or protect them?
Neither extreme works. The skill is supportive exposure — helping a child face fears in steps they can handle, while not reinforcing avoidance. We coach you through exactly how.
Will my child need medication?
Often not. Therapy alone helps many anxious kids. When anxiety is severe, medication can lower the volume enough for therapy to work — used thoughtfully and monitored closely.
Is school refusal just defiance?
Usually it’s anxiety, not willfulness. Treating the underlying fear — and coordinating with the school — is what gets a child back through the door.
How fast can we be seen?
Usually within the same week. If it’s urgent, tell us when you call.