DD suffering from anxiety/panic

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-16-2004
DD suffering from anxiety/panic
11
Sun, 12-03-2006 - 12:20am

Hi,

My 7 year old DD has been having anxious moments (perhaps panic attacks?) where she starts focusing on her breathing to the point thet she starts breathing really fast. Then, she gets scared becasue she is breathing too fast. I need help with things that I can do with her to help her calm down or not focus on her breathing.

I have tried progressive realxation with her and deep breathing excercises. It will help for a few minutes, but then she is back to thinking about her breathing and breathing too fast. She has 2 or 3 epoisodes a day of this "breathing" thing. It tends to happen more at night when it is dark out (perhaps she is afraid of the dark) and at night before bed. (she is probably tired). Also, sometimes she is so upset about breathing too fast that she
starts crying and getting so upset that she can't even try to focus on relaxing. She will say to me "I can't do it" and continue to get more and more worked up and upset.

A little background on her-she had severe separation anxiety when she was 3 and 4 years old. At 5, in kindergarden, she seemed nervous at scool and would lick her fingers and then rub under her nose. (It got so bad that she had scabs on her skin). She really liked school, so we don't know why she felt this way. We took her to see a child psychologist for these issues. It seemed to help a bit, but didn't completely help the problem. I recently took her back to the psychologist, who basically talked to her about things to do to calm down. Her suggestions didn't seem to help, and so we have not been back to see her.

My DD is normally a very happy, outgoing child. There is nothing bad going on in her life right now. She loves school. She is our only child, and we lavish her with tons of attention/time/love.

I have a book I have started to read, but it is going to take me a while to finish it so in the meantime I am looking for some quick "helpful" hints. (For the record, she will not drink warm milk or tea, so we can't try this to help her relax.)

I have suffered from panic attacks in the past. However, mine were brought on by pregnancy when I was an adult at age 35. (I did not have them in my childhood.) Currently, my panic attacks are gone and I am not on any medication. (Medication-xanax- was the only thing that helped them. I tried many other things and they never worked.)

Thanks for reading this.

-JoJo

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Sun, 12-03-2006 - 2:21am

Hi, JoJo! It's nice that you stopped by. I am sorry to hear about your dd. As in any situation, a health care professional should be consulted for a confirmed diagnosis & treatment. We cannot do either on this board. In fact, we deal with adult anxiety issues. Children's perceptions are much different than adults & they require treatment that is based on their stage of development.


I am sure you love your dd very much & want the best for her. In a way, it's a blessing that you have experienced anxiety/panic & can relate to her. Also, that you have overcome your fears & know that with

 

 


 



iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2006
Sun, 12-03-2006 - 7:19am

Hi Jojo

I was wondering... does your daughters panic occur on school nights only or does it happen on the weekends as well? How was she over the summer school break?

You mentioned she had trouble in school at the age of 5 and had developed a coping skill of licking her finger and rubbing the skin under her nose. Could she possibly be panicing about going to school the next day?

I become anxious on Sunday nights about returning to work on Monday. So that makes me wonder if that is what is occuring with your DD.

((Hugs to both of you))

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-16-2004
Sun, 12-03-2006 - 2:01pm

Hi,

No, she does the "breathing" thing 7 days a week. It is not worse Mon thru Fri, when she has school. And, she really loves school and is having no problems at school what so ever.

We live near Chicago, and we get less and less sunlight from fall to early winter.(Right now, it seriously gets dark at 4:30 pm!!!!Yuk!) This "dark period" is the same time frame of her starting school each year. My DH and I think that perhaps she has SAD (season affective disorder) where a lack of sunlight can give you anxiety, etc. So, perhaps it's not school that sets off the anxiety every fall, but the lack of sunshine. We are going to have to look into this a little more.

Thanks for your reply.

-JoJo

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-16-2004
Sun, 12-03-2006 - 2:08pm

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. My DD has gone to the therapist she has seen off and on since she was3 years old. This time around, the therapist was not very helpful. (She basically talked to my DD about thinking calming thoughts. I can do this myself and it does not cost 150.00 per hour!) So, I thought since the therpist was not helping, maybe someone had some helpful hints here.

Also, I posted here and not on the childhood mental disorders board as this board deals specifically with anxity/panic, and the children's board deals with so many other things.
Also, I thought perhaps some of the adults who suffer from anxirty/panic may have had these symptoms as children and so they might have some good coping strategies.

However, I can still post on the children's board, snd will probably do this in the next few days.

Thanks again,

JoJO

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2006
Sun, 12-03-2006 - 6:32pm

JoJo
I am outside of Cleveland Ohio so I can relate to the shorter days and cold weather. I suffer from SAD and I hate this time of year. What is helping me right now is to think that in 17 days from today we will experience the shortest day of the year and then the days start getting longer. But of course that does not stop the snow fall which keeps us cooped up inside a lot.

On sunny days make sure she get lots of exposer to the sun.

The Cleveland zoo has a rainforest and it is up lifting to go in there and soak up the humidity and pretend it is a nice summer day. Try doing some activities. Do you guys have any indoor water parks that you could go to? That might perk her up.
If you are able to, in Sandusky Ohio which is about 1 hour west of Cleveland Ohio are a number of indoor waterparks that you could visit. The billboard I passed yesterday advertised the Kalahari waterpark as being 86 warm degrees. Planning a weekend trip maybe for Columbus day weekend when she should be off from school would be a good idea. It would also give her something else to look forward too and occupy her mind. If you want more info about them or other things you can do in Sandusky during winter, just ask.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-16-2004
Sun, 12-03-2006 - 8:01pm

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. We are actually going to go to Disney World in Florida this month, so the sun exposure should help. We have some water parks near Chicago, where I live, so we can check these out, too. (Most water parks have skylights and get tons of natural sunlight in them.)

I just realized that my DD may not be getting any sunlight exposure in her classroom at school! They are doing constuction on her school , and she is in a small mobile classroom on the front lawn. (It is basically a trailer.)It only has a few teeny tiny windows, so she is not getting any exposure to sunlight. Last year, in 1st grade, she had a big classroom where the whole length of it had windows, so she got sun exposure. She was not anxious in 1st grade. Also, in kindergarden she was anxious. Her classroom had windows, but not much sun came thru them. Next year, I am going to request that she be put in a classroom that gets a lot of natural sunlight comming in, and that she sit near the window.

Thanks again-

JoJo

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2006
Sun, 12-03-2006 - 8:36pm

Disney World is our favorite place to vacation. That in of itself will help. We actually love it so much we bought a Disney World. Have you been to Disney in Jan. before? A word from the wise it can be cold there in Jan and Feb. So I suggest taking clothes to keep you warm. Especially if you plan to be out at night to see any fireworks or lazer shows.

Hey if you need some planning help - just ask - we go every year in Feb so I have a lot of tips and tricks I can share with you. I sent you an email about a Disney web sight that is great.

The classroom situation may be the problem. If she is enclosed in a trailor then when she gets home it begins to get dark outside she is not getting the sunlight she needs. Not only for her emotions but her bones. Exposure to sunlight provides vitamin D & a child at her age needs because she is still growing.
For people who suffer from SAD there is a light you can buy which simulates sunlight. They say sitting in front of it for 30 minutes a day helps. Do a search online I am sure you will find it.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-16-2004
Sun, 12-03-2006 - 10:02pm

Hi,

We are going to Disney a week from today. We went in May (5/10 to 5/16) and it was really crowded and really hot. (It was 95 degrees, people were literally fainting in front of us, and being at the parks was like being at the mall on Dec 24th with all the shoppers! A 5 year old girl was having a seizure from the heat and my hubby and I had to help cool her off with bottled water and a small hand held fan we had as the Mom was really hysterical and did not know what to do. We didn't exactly know what to do, either, as we have no medical training. However, we just tried to cool her off until help arrived. It took the paramedics FOREVER to get to her as they were taking care of someone else who had fainted. The girl was ok after a whil-we saw her later on walking around and she was ok. So, believe me when I tell you, it was really hot! )We had a good time, but we are hoping to avoid the heat and crowds this time.

Have you been there this time in December? If so, is is usually less crowded and not as hot? Let me know. (Lately, it has been around 70 during the day and 60 or so at night in Orlando, so we plan on bringing pants/swetshirts/jackets.)

Thanks for the link to the disney board-I will check it out.

-JoJo

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2006
Mon, 12-04-2006 - 6:49am

We have not gone in Dec but we have gone for Thanksgiving - talk about crowded! From what I have heard the week leading up to Christmas and the week after Christmas are very crowded. As far as the temps I would still plan to take warm clothes too. Just about 10 days ago they had a little snow in Orlando! So it is best to go prepared.

Planning a trip to Florida is one of my ways of dealing with SAD. It gives me something to look forward too. Is your DD excited? You will get to see all the X-mas decorations. You must go to the Grand Floridian Hotel and walk through the lobby. They have a wonderful display of gingerbread houses.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-22-2003
Tue, 12-05-2006 - 8:39pm
Let us know how your trip goes!

Sheri Ann

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