Lots of kids get jitters; some are overwhelmed

This is an excerpt from an article written by Ana Veciana-Suarez, originally published on August 22, 2009 in the Miami Herald:

Wendy K. Silverman, director of the Child Anxiety and Phobia Program at Florida International University, has been teaching children how to conquer their fears for more than 20 years. As a researcher and board-certified clinical child and adolescent psychologist, she sees youngsters whose extreme anxiety can keep them out of the classroom. With school about to resume, we talked to Silverman about her research and about what parents can do to help fearful students.

Q: What is school anxiety and how prevalent is it?

There is no formal disorder known as 'school anxiety disorder' or 'school phobia.' Rather, as many as 5 percent of school-age children exhibit severe anxiety relating to school, including refusal to attend school. (The prevalence of any anxiety disorder is about 10 percent among children and adolescents.)

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Could your child be depressed?

This is an excerpt from an article originallty published on July 16, 2009 by the San Francisco Chronicle:

"At first, Andrea Carpenter blamed preadolescent hormones for her 10-year-old daughter's moodiness. "Allie was extremely irritable at home, and she'd get snippy with her dad and me for no apparent reason," says the Marietta, GA, mom. Life at the Carpenters' home grew so tense that the family started seeing a counselor who, after a few sessions, recommended that Allie visit a psychiatrist. "He mentioned depression, but I thought it was just puberty," Andrea says. Her thinking quickly changed after Allie said she wished she was never alive and talked about cutting her throat. "I was devastated -- I knew she wasn't a happy-go-lucky kid, but I never thought a 10-year-old could be suicidal."

In fact, depression is the second most common childhood mental health problem. (Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is number one.) An estimated one in 33 children and one in eight teens are depressed, and the World Health Organization predicts that the number of kids -- and adults -- diagnosed with the disorder could double by the year 2020. Fewer than a fourth of the estimated 12 million kids in the United States who suffer from psychiatric disorders receive treatment, however, which places them at high risk for failing school, abusing drugs and alcohol, and committing crimes. Kids with untreated depression also are 12 times more likely to commit suicide. The nation's suicide rate for children jumped nearly 10 percent from 2003 to 2004, the largest increase in 14 years."

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