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High Anxiety Young and old are learning to conquer fears by standing up to them. By Ken Branson and Amy Vames Brian Chu, by his own account, was so anxious as a boy that his teachers asked his parents, “What’s wrong with Brian? He’s so quiet.” Now an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Chu also recalls that he “was shy and worried a lot, even as early as fourth or fifth grade. I wasn’t comfortable in social situations and I was nervous about homework. I remember staying up late at night worrying about how I was doing in school.”But his youthful anxieties began to fade after Chu started playing baseball on a recreational team in Glen Rock. He worshipped Gary Carter, the charismatic, power-hitting New York Mets catcher, and proudly wore Carter’s number 8 on his jersey. Chu didn’t hit the ball often, but when he did, he hit it a long way. Success at the plate boosted his confidence and helped him feel less anxious in school and with other kids. “My childhood experiences give me an understanding of what many kids go through,” says Chu, who, along with Jan Mohlman, codirects the Lifespan Anxiety and Depression Clinic on the Busch Campus in Piscataway. Chu supervises the Youth Anxiety and Depression Clinic for ages 8 to 16; Mohlman oversees the Rutgers Anxiety Research Laboratory for patients 60 and older. Twenty percent of young Americans have a diagnosable anxiety disorder, says Chu. He warns that parents, teachers, and others who work with children too often ignore anxiety in children in the belief that it’s “just a phase.” Anxious children, he says, tend to be anxious adults and are more likely to have problems with depression and substance abuse as teenagers and adults. The Youth Anxiety and Depression Clinic receives referrals from school counselors or other adults who work closely with young people. In younger kids, separation anxiety is common. As children age, poor school attendance, academic difficulties, and problems with social interaction are signs that anxiety and depression might be involved. “Uncontrollable worry is an underlying factor in most instances; the child or teen might be worried about a number of things: family problems, school work, making friends,” says Chu. Chu’s research shows therapy works at least as well or better than medications. A common starting point for treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is administered by trained graduate students. Through weekly one-on-one sessions and home assignments, young patients are taught to recognize and reverse their own negative thoughts, and to use relaxation techniques to help alleviate tension. In vivo exposure, a technique based on the theory that practicing a task increases one’s comfort level with it, is also commonly practiced. For example, in a case where a child is anxious every time he or she has a math test, mock tests are administered. The idea is that by giving a practice test in a safe, nonjudgmental setting, the child will be better equipped to handle the real thing. Chu tries to keep kids active and parents involved over the 16 weeks of treatment. “Kids get a workbook that includes exercises on identifying and challenging their negative thoughts,” he says. “We also play games, do role-playing, draw, whatever it takes to engage the child and teach him or her coping skills.” Parents are taught how to empathize with their child, to acknowledge the distress, and to encourage their child to push through it. Therapists who find that a child has trouble talking to strangers might take him or her to a store and encourage the child to ask a clerk for help in finding a product. As the young people are treated, they are also carefully studied to determine techniques that work best. “We find remarkable change in 50 to 70 percent of the kids,” says Chu. “When we follow up with them a year later, we generally find continuing improvement. So they’re not only learning immediate relief, they’re also learning coping skills that continue to be reinforced as time goes by. “The first thing we tell parents and their children is that anxiety is a natural emotion,” he says. “We’re not here to remove it, we’re here to help them tolerate it and to be able to cope with it when it gets to be too much.” continued... Page 1 of 3 Next > Published: Spring 2007 |
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