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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Anxiety To A 10 Year Old At Night?

Hi, my 10 year old son has always shown some anxiety at night since he was a toddler. He wont go to bed unless I am in the next room and often will shout through or come into my bedroom in the middle of the night. At night, if I leave him upstairs on his own, even for a minute, he starts to panic, feels sick , cold sweats and heavy breathing. He also suffers headaches and nightmares about ghosts and aliens.
Thu, 3 Dec 2015
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Psychologist,  's  Response
Dear
Welcome to HCM
We understand your concerns

I went through your details. I can understand. I am sympathetic with the child as well as with you. Please understand, training and training alone can make a child successfully stay alone, especially at night. There are many irrational lies, like ghosts and aliens, injected into the child's mind knowingly or unknowingly by family members as well as society and media. Due to these, children always has a fear for darkness, because according to those irrational information, ghosts and aliens come out and hung during darkness and at night. These irrational thoughts make them anxious.

They, the children, do not have the maturity to differentiate between irrational and rational knowledge. Parents, care takers and teachers are suppose to teach them the differences between rational and irrational information. Parents need to train them regarding these. Your child needs training on these aspects as well as the "sleeping alone at night" aspect.

First he need to build confidence within him. Then you need to assist him to have self faith and he should say "I will try to do it today". Slowly and steadily, you will see the change in his behavior. If you try to force him, it is going to backfire. Please do it gently.

You may consult a psychologist or a life style coach for assistance.

If you require more of my help in this aspect, please use this URL. http://goo.gl/aYW2pR. Make sure that you include every minute detail possible.

Hope this answers your query. Further clarifications are welcome.
Good luck. Take care.
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What Causes Anxiety To A 10 Year Old At Night?

Dear Welcome to HCM We understand your concerns I went through your details. I can understand. I am sympathetic with the child as well as with you. Please understand, training and training alone can make a child successfully stay alone, especially at night. There are many irrational lies, like ghosts and aliens, injected into the child s mind knowingly or unknowingly by family members as well as society and media. Due to these, children always has a fear for darkness, because according to those irrational information, ghosts and aliens come out and hung during darkness and at night. These irrational thoughts make them anxious. They, the children, do not have the maturity to differentiate between irrational and rational knowledge. Parents, care takers and teachers are suppose to teach them the differences between rational and irrational information. Parents need to train them regarding these. Your child needs training on these aspects as well as the sleeping alone at night aspect. First he need to build confidence within him. Then you need to assist him to have self faith and he should say I will try to do it today . Slowly and steadily, you will see the change in his behavior. If you try to force him, it is going to backfire. Please do it gently. You may consult a psychologist or a life style coach for assistance. If you require more of my help in this aspect, please use this URL. http://goo.gl/aYW2pR. Make sure that you include every minute detail possible. Hope this answers your query. Further clarifications are welcome. Good luck. Take care.