My dd is 8 and im not sure how to help her. Recently she has become really clingy to me, wont go to her grandparents house or to play with her friends, except if they play in our garden. She is also terrified of animals, especially dogs and cats. She runs in screaming from the garden if a cat appears, a cat only has to walk along the path and she screams. When out walking she takes a wide berth from dogs walking past, even if they on a lead, sometimes she trys to jump into my arms. She has always been frightened of animals, so this is not new, but it seems to be getting worse. Its like she is extemely anxious all the time and im not sure what to do. I think im going to speak to our gp and see what he says because it is impacting on her life daily. An example i can give you is she had an opticians appointment 2 days ago, and she cried all the way there, screamed once inside and tried to run out the door. Once the optician sat down and talked to her she calmed down and let her do the test. My dd wears glasses and has since she was 3yrs old so an eye test is something she has regularly. I cant think of anything that has happened to make her worse and her teachers say she is fine at school and nothing has happened there. I have tried talking to her, getting her to explain how she feels. Im finding this really frustrating and maybe she senses this. I guess i want to know has anyone else experienced this with there child and how did you help them. Sorry this a very long post and thankyou in advance for any replys.