The term neurosis includes a variety of psychological disorders. Today this term is not often used in the clinical setting, disorders that were previously classified as neurosis are now commonly categorized as neurotic. These disorders include: post-traumatic stress disorder, somatic disorders, anxiety, panic, phobias, obsessive-compulsive, adaptive and dissociative disorders. Specifically in children, it would be anxiety disorders, phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In this Psychology-Online article, we will explain the types of infantile neurosis, as well as we will highlight the importance of good mental health in childhood.
There are authors who suggest that the term neurosis defined from the works of Freud, should be used with great caution when dealing with children. This is because this term assumes a relatively stable personality that is not possible in a child who is in constant development, going through and overcoming a series of successive evolutionary stages. For this reason it is
Some of the neurotic disorders in childhood are:
Anxiety disorders
- Generalized anxiety
Children with generalized anxiety disorder worry excessively and uncontrollably about events in daily life. His concerns include fear that bad things may happen in the future: divorce of the parents, not arriving on time to something important event, making mistakes, a loved one getting sick or dying, not doing well in school, natural disasters, etc.
- Separation anxiety disorder
Many children experience separation anxiety between 18 months and 3 years. At these ages it is normal to feel anxiety when a parent moves away or disappears from the child's visual field. Children can usually be distracted from these feelings if another adult catches their attention. If your child cries on the first day of school or when he has to face new situations, it is completely normal. But if he is older and you cannot leave him with another family member when you cannot be with him or he takes longer to calm down than others children his age when you move away from him, then we could be talking about disappearing anxiety disorder, common in children ages seven to nine years.
When a child has separation anxiety disorder, he experiences excessive anxiety when he is away from his home or her parents. Other symptoms can be refusing to go to school, camp, etc. Children with separation anxiety worry about bad things that happen to them or that may happen to their parents or significant others in the future.
- Syndrome hypochondriac
Although it is not a disorder, the child has excessive anxiety related to health (somatic, physical symptoms, illness ...). In children, these excessive and uncontrollable health concerns often manifest themselves in numerous consultations frequent visits to the doctor and the continuing need for comfort from parents or relatives due to exaggerated fears of to be bad.
Phobias
The fears and phobias They are characterized by being persistent, excessive and irrational fears towards objects or situations. These fears interfere with his life and the child is not able to control them. Some common phobias in children are dogs, insects, needles, loud noises ...
Children will avoid situations or things that they fear, and if faced with those situations they would face them with feelings of anxiety such as crying, tantrums, headaches and stomachaches. Unlike adults, children generally do not recognize that their fear is irrational.
Obsessive compulsive disorder
This disorder is characterized by a series of unwanted and intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and a series of rituals and routines (compulsions) that the child is forced to do to try to alleviate the anxiety. Most children with obsessive compulsive disorder They are diagnosed around the age of 10, although the disorder can affect children as young as 2 or 3 years old. Boys are more likely to develop this disorder before puberty while girls tend to develop it during adolescence.
Psychological well-being and emotional in children is as important as their physical health. Good mental health enables children to develop the resilience necessary to face whatever life throws at them and to become healthy and balanced adults.
Some things that can help children stay mentally balanced are:
- Good physical health, good nutrition and do physical exercise on a regular basis
- To have free time to do things outdoors and at home
- Be part of a balanced family and stable
- Practice group activities
- Feeling lovely, protected, supported and understood by significant figures
- Be able to learn and have opportunities for it
- Have a feeling of belonging to the family, school, environment ...
- Have the strength to face bad things and the ability to solve problems
Most children grow up mentally healthy, but surveys suggest that in recent years there has been an increase in mental health problems in children. That may be due to changes in the way we live now and how that affects the development of the little ones.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
