When do children begin to develop anxieties or phobias?

When do children begin to develop anxieties or phobias?

Charles Sophy (Private Practice in Adult, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry) gives expert video advice on: How prevalent are anxieties and phobias in children?; What is the professional treatment for a child with phobias and anxieties?; What can I do to prevent my child from developing an anxiety? and more...

Any age of a child can exhibit an anxiety or a phobia, some of them are just genetic. So if you have a anxious mom or dad often times that's genetic. It can be exhibited as young as two or three months of age with stranger anxiety, when your child can't really tolerate seeing somebody and they really don't work themselves through that process. You can see it at the age of two or three or four when it's time to seperate to go to a program, a mommy and me program or a DK or whatever the program will be in your area, to be able to seperate you will see separation anxiety come up, transition anxiety come up. Going from eating to watching television or playing an activity and getting ready for bed. So identifying those kinds of spots for your child that are rough and allowing them transition times giving them the knowledge that this is what's going to happen, empowers them and they are really able to get their arms around it and move forward.