Anxiety in DD age 8

[jaychops]

DD has been displaying some anxiety for the past 2 weeks which came out of nowhere. It started with a fear of us leaving her because she thought we may be in a car crash or end up poorly and not collect her. She cried a few times at school in the first few days but this hasn't happened since. She has improved, but is still telling her teacher a couple of times a day that she misses us and is spending some time in the library rather than playing with her friends, although this has also decreased and she has been playing again. She's been hesitant going in school but her teacher says she's been doing really well and it hasn't been affecting her school work and she's not too worried about her. At home she's fine, just doesn't like being left at the moment.

Yesterday evening we were out in public in a situation where we needed to go and get help for someone. My husband went off and we stayed with them. DD's anxiety was building and she kept saying she wanted to go home. I explained we couldn't leave the person just yet (it was all very calm) but she eventually lost it and started jumping and shouting I want to go home I want to go home!! As soon as we got in the car she calmed down easily and was reassured but couldn't really tell us what exactly she was worried about.

Can this be how anxiety presents in an 8 year old? Everything I read suggests anxiety is linked to autism. She doesn't usually have meltdowns. She does well at school but can struggle to explain how she is feeling so maybe this contributed to the frustration last night. She has a good group of friends and still plays lots of imaginative play, but can struggle with small talk with people she's not familiar with. Good eye contact. Only thing is she does sometimes jump around when she's excited. No sensory issues either.

[ditzzy]

Replying to bump it for you as I’m sure others will have more insight.

Have you checked with her teachers that her friend group is getting on at the moment? If she’s fallen out with a friend that could explain her hiding in the library as well as being anxious being away from people/familiar places?

Does she have one particularly close friend? If so, can you talk to the friend’s mum to see if there’s anything going on that you don’t know about? Are they growing apart etc?

I might be on completely the wrong track, but hopefully my response gets you some more knowledgable traffic. It must be very worrying for you.

[Eyesopenwideawake]

No harm in having a (free) chat with Therese Langford of https://www.facebook.com/calmmindhypnotherapy - she specialises in anxiety issues in children.

[jaychops]

Thankyou for the replies. I will have a look at the Facebook page.

There don't seem to be any issues with her friends and she seems a lot happier at school now. We are still having some difficulties with separation anxiety but she says once she's distracted she feels much better.

[glassoven]

This happened to my ds when he was just turning 7. Anxiety came out of nowhere. The first few weeks were very worrying but over a few months it slowly decreased, we were using the book "What to do when you worry too much", had long chats, lots of reassurance. It was completely gone in less than 6 months and hasn't come back.
Since then I've seen a few threads about the same and posters often suggest that around age 7 children start to understand death which can cause anxiety.
One poster also said "There is a period between 6-8 when kids are very emotional" (I copied this into my diary to reassure myself that it wasn't somehow my fault!)
Posters on these threads also mentioned PANS/PANDAS, as one symptom is the sudden onset of anxiety. Worth to have a look.
Anyway it's great that your dd is now a lot happier at school, I hope her anxiety will tail off as my son's did.