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About the Child Disorders Treated at CUCARD

  • My child seems to worry about everything. Safety, being on time, his health…you name it. He also worries about things that most kids don’t even know to worry about – what’s going on in the world, our family finances, and whether we’ll get a divorce. 

  • My child refuses to sleep in her own bed at night.

  • My child is always worried that kids are going to laugh at him or reject him. And so, he doesn’t put himself out there to be with other kids, and tries to avoid any situation in which he could potentially be evaluated by others.

  • Every morning my child sobs when its time for him to go to school. When we get to school, he clings on to me so tightly that his teachers have to pry him off of me.

  • My child tells me that he misses me when he’s at school and worries that something bad will happen to me and that he won’t see me again.

  • Every time my child is in a crowded place, she says that her heart starts racing and she can’t breath. During these episodes I notice she’s sweating and shaking.

  • My child feels tense most of the time and has difficulty sleeping.

  • Most days my child is down in the dumps and irritable. Is this normal for a teenager?
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All children and adolescents worry from time to time. In fact, anxiety is a normal part of development, serving an adaptive function in many areas of life. But for some kids, anxiety becomes so persistent and interfering that it overwhelms their lives, profoundly compromising their functioning in peer, academic, and family settings. Anxiety in children or adolescents can also cause substantial disruption in family functioning, and can compromise the quality of life of other family members. When anxiety and associated avoidance are so disruptive that they cause significant life interference, a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder may be appropriate and clinical attention is warranted. 

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent class of mental health problems affected children and adolescents in the United States, collectively affecting roughly one in every eight children. Anxiety disorders typically onset in childhood or adolescence, and when left untreated these disorders can persist into chronic conditions associated with considerably reduced quality of life.

Childhood anxiety disorders are treatable, yet regrettably only one-third of afflicted individuals actually receive treatment. 

The Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CUCARD) provides evidence-based treatments for all of the anxiety disorders that can afflict children, including: