Many children hang on their mother’s leg with apprehension on the first day of kindergarten. Other children struggle to sleep some nights because of the monsters they think are under the bed. Or maybe the trip to the dentist each year is a source of anxiety for your child.

These are all normal childhood fears. They are specific to one experience, and they can be worked through, and the child quickly moves on from them.

When a child’s fears become disproportionate to the actual situation and are long-standing, bleeding into many areas of the child’s life, there may be more going on, such as a Specific Phobia.(1)

A Specific Phobia centers on one particular activity, object, animal, or situation. The fear that the child feels drives them to avoid that trigger at all costs. An inability to avoid the trigger causes intense distress.

Some types of specific phobias include:(2)

Fear of water (Aquaphobia)
Fear of the dark (Nyctophobia)
Fear of thunder and lightning (Astraphobia)
Fear of insects (Entomophobia)
Fear of dogs (Cynophobia)
Fear of places or situations that might cause panic (Agoraphobia)
Fear of social situations (Social Phobia)

This isn’t an exhaustive list. There are many other things that children may develop a Specific Phobia around. Looking for the tell-tale symptoms and speaking to a mental health professional are the best ways to determine if your child is suffering from a Specific Phobia.

Symptoms

Children with Specific Phobia can experience both emotional and physiological symptoms. The emotional symptoms of intense, unrealistic fear and panic around a specific situation or thing are what most people think of when they think of a Specific Phobia.(2) However, children can also feel a compelling need to avoid the object of their anxiety. This need for avoidance shapes their behavior and influences how they make decisions.

Physical symptoms that are experienced with Specific Phobia can include headaches, stomachaches, a racing heart, trembling, difficulty breathing, sweating, and feelings of weakness.(5) Children can experience any combination of these physical symptoms in addition to the emotional symptoms they experience.

Specific Phobia can interfere with many aspects of a child’s life by disrupting their sleep patterns or ability to have fun.(4) It can also cause concentration problems that often result in behavior issues in the classroom. If the symptoms of Specific Phobia have progressed to this point, the child needs help from a mental health professional.

Causes

The three main causes of Specific Phobia are predisposition, genes, and environment. Predisposition speaks to a child’s personality. Some children are more prone to be anxious and are less capable of handling stressors in their lives.

Mental illnesses can be hereditary or related to genetics.(3) A child with more anxious people in their family history is more likely to be diagnosed with a Specific Phobia. Finally, if a child’s environment is stressful, that can also be a cause of Specific Phobia. These environments could include living in a volatile home, feeling stressed at school, having parents going through a divorce, or a loss of a family member.

Very rarely is just one of these factors at play with a diagnosis of Specific Phobia. More often two or three factors are involved to varying degrees.

Treatments

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is often the most effective type of therapy to treat a Specific Phobia.(7) CBT works to help a child identify their thought patterns and how those thoughts may be helping or hurting them. As they begin to recognize what their thought patterns are and the power that they hold, children can work to change those thoughts and, in turn, change their behavior.

One technique of CBT, known as Graded Exposure, helps children systemically face their fears and more effectively manage their symptoms.(6) Through repeated practice of Graded Exposure, a child can gain mastery over their fear.

The mental health professional may help your child understand how the outcome that they imagine when they are anxious is not realistic. They might teach your child how to use self-talk to combat fear. Therapy sessions may also consist of your child learning various relaxation techniques, like breathing exercises.(6) The exercises are great for you as the parent to learn as well so that you can help coach your child through them when they are anxious.

For a child suffering from a Specific Phobia and their parents, an effective technique like Graded Exposure can be an amazing tool. So let me tell you a bit more about implementing Graded Exposure with your child.

Graded Exposure

While treatment of a Specific Phobia should always be overseen by a mental health professional, there are strategies that can be practiced at home to help your child.

My anxiety disorder series, I’M AFRAID, has a book focused on Specific Phobia. Sophia Swan Is Afraid of Water! follows Sophia as she faces her intense fear of water. She uses Graded Exposure to slowly expose herself to water and address her fear step-by-step.

This book can be a wonderful tool to see the practical application of Graded Exposure. Your child may see themselves in Sophia. They can watch as a character that feels the same fear that they do is able to succeed in facing her fears.

The book also has a page outlining this stepladder approach and other coping strategies that may be useful.

Other Therapy Strategies

The mental health professional you partner with may also try other techniques to help your child address their fear.

Role-playing techniques can be a great tool to work through a worst-case scenario that a child is picturing. Through role-playing, the child can most often see how that scenario is not likely or even not possible.

A mental health professional can help a child find the combination of different strategies that work best specifically for them. They can also provide the space and encouragement to continue to practice these techniques until the child is able to use them successfully.

Remember, some childhood fears are normal. The many new and unusual things that a child experiences are bound to bring out some feelings of trepidation. However, if any anxiety is beginning to seem prolonged and unrealistic, reach out for help.(2) Even if there is no diagnosis, it never hurts to have someone come alongside you and your child and give you strategies to cope with anxiety.

Pre-order Sophia Swan Is Afraid of Water! HERE. To check out other books in the I’M AFRAID anxiety disorder series, visit: www.DrMadeleineVieira.com/books/imafraid

Would you like more information on childhood anxiety? Listen to my Genius Little Minds two-part podcast series on childhood anxiety disorders now! Click here for part 1 and Click here for part 2.

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