How ADHD Can Cause Anxiety in Children
The relationship between ADHD and anxiety is a complicated one. They can usually be confused for one another, as many outwardly visible symptoms are similar, though they happen for different reasons. Sometimes, a person may be struggling with both ADHD and anxiety at the same time. Other times, ADHD can even cause anxiety in a person. This is also valid for children.
About 3 in 10 ADHD kids struggle with anxiety. There are a lot of reasons why this might be the case. If your child has ADHD and has problems managing their anxiety, you might want to know what is causing that anxiety in order to help them better.
Intense Emotions
Emotional dysregulation is a common experience for people with ADHD. That means every emotion might feel intense and uncontrollable. You may have noticed this with your child experiencing intense and inappropriate anger over a small issue, for example. It’s not something that is easy to deal with, for you as their parent or for your child as the one experiencing those overwhelming emotions.
Of course, this also means that the anxiety they feel is just as intense and sometimes a little out of control. Anxiety that is this strong is difficult for children to deal with. That’s why it’s important they learn good ways to manage and deal with their emotions.
Difficulty Socializing
Children with ADHD have a hard time connecting with their peers. Repeated rejections and lack of solid links with their peers might make them anxious during social situations. They might fear standing out in a negative way or being judged by their peers for being too strange.
This can lead to children feeling anxious in all sorts of social situations: they may fear interacting with anyone they’re not close to, fear they’ll be judged harshly for saying or doing the wrong thing, and fear embarrassing themselves in any way. This could affect their self-esteem and the way they live their lives in the future if it remains unaddressed.
Completing Tasks
ADHD’s core features include being easily distracted and struggling with deadlines. Completing school work might be difficult for them because of this, and it might cause them to miss or almost miss deadlines more often than not.
Consistent struggles with finishing tasks at the right time might induce anxiety in them. It can cause them to struggle more than they already do. They’ll feel anxious whenever they have a task to complete, and the deadline looms near, especially if they are also dealing with a fear of failure.
Sometimes, the negative consequences of not completing a task or missing a deadline are particularly harsh, so it feels like the end of the world. So, is it any wonder that this makes them overly anxious?
Medication
Some children are medicated for ADHD. This helps with their attention problems and generally helps them thrive in otherwise difficult situations. But some of those medications come with side effects, and sometimes these include persistent feelings of anxiety. This isn’t necessarily a sign to quit the medication altogether, but seeing a professional about these concerns would not be a bad idea.
Managing ADHD and Anxiety
If your child struggles with ADHD and is starting to show more symptoms of anxiety than they used to, getting the right kind of help is the most important thing you can do for them. Counseling will help your child manage their intense anxiety. It will also help them deal with their worries in a way that isn’t detrimental to their well-being. So, don’t be afraid to schedule an appointment with us. Fox Child and Family Therapy wants to help you and your child thrive. Reach out to us today. Call 913-229-5691.