Anxiety attack (I think) in 8 year old girl.

[Pasquala]

My 8 year old daughter has just recently started suffering from what appear to be anxiety type attacks.
The first occasion was over something she would normally do without a problem - tidying her room. She became very aggressive, clenching her fists, shaking, red in the face and ended up throwing herself on the floor. 10 minutes later she could not recall throwing herself on the floor and was crying and saying sorry.
It happenned again yesterday when i wanted to look in her mouth as her gums at a glance had looked red and I wanted to check. Normally this would not be a big deal but again, she clenched her fists, started shaking, became hysterical and took a long long time (20 minutes or so) to calm down.
She is an extremely well behaved little girl, polite, courteous and always obliging and this is highly unlike her and very shocking/worrying.
Has anyone else experience this and what would be your course of action?
She was bitten by a dog on the face when she was 5 (3 years ago). This was very traumatic as we were in N. Africa and she had to have rabies jabs. There is no scarring and she is physically fine. This is the only traumatic event in her life (that we are aware of).

Many thanks for any help/advice.

Why do you think they are anxiety attacks, rather than temper from being told to do something she doesn't want to do?

On my experience of 8yo girls, it is far more unusual that she has never behaved badly up until now! It really is very unusual that normally she is so obliging.

I can see you're worried because it's not normal for her, but really, it is normal for most children and I wouldn't worry too much.

Many thanks for your response. I completely understand what you mean but she is not that unusually good. These are almost like fits. I should also mention but not sure if it is relevant, a couple of months ago she woke in the night absolutely terrified that she was turning into an orange! She was actually convulsing. That was much worse and she threw herself on the floor really shaking and out of control. After research on that occasion we took it to be mild panic attacks. We have recently moved home and school, new baby brother etc - lots of change. My gut feeling (which always seems to be stated here as the thing to go on) says that these tantrums are not quite right.

IME anxiety can definitely come out in tantrums/anger - I would trust that gut instinct, Pasquala.

Yes, that is a lot of change in a short time by the sound of it. And 8 year old girls (I have one!) are also going through a lot of developmental change, which can make them more sensitive/introverted/moody or whatever, so she may be feeling it all more and finding it hard to process.

My tactic with dd1, when she is overwrought, is to stay calm and firm with important boundaries (not room cleaning necessarily - pick the most important ones) and at the same time shower her with kindness and understanding. She probably needs to feel safe, more than anything, and you understanding that she's entitled to have strong feelings and express them, without causing panic or punishment, may be enough to give her that

Eight year olds also start needing a little more space and independence, and its interesting that wanting to look in her mouth, or get her to tidy her room, is triggering her outbursts. I find dd1 is growing up a lot at the moment, and the more I can back off - over minor things - whilst staying present and close for her to turn to, the better.

Good luck, I hope she's ok and feeling happier soon.