4yr old scared of everything

[pijenna24]

I have a 4 yr old daughter that seems to be scared of everything. It started about two years ago. She refused to go outside because she was scared of airplanes and cars driving by.  Then she was scared of flies and bees and all types of bugs.  Then we have a cat. We had the cat for about a year now and about a month ago she was screaming and crying and freaking out because she said the cat got big and she thought that the cat was going to get her.  We had her sit there and pet her for a while til she calmed down. Then she went into her room and the cat came in there and she covered her self up so that the cat wouldn't come near her.  Shes scared of puppies and thinks they will get her.  We recently went to a store to look at camping stuff.  We went inside and she started freaking out because our other daughter got inside a boat to look at it and she started crying saying that she was going to start the boat and run over her.  Took her about 1/2 hr to calm down.  Another incident is we had someone come over to get some chairs we were selling. She thought that the guy was going to "take the chair and hit her in the head and crack open her head"  That took a while to get her to calm down.  Another incident is we had someone come to look at a problem with our cable and she thought he was going to come and blow up our house.  Today we had her go outside to play with her sister and she started screaming and crying because there is an ant out there.  I am not sure what to do anymore. Do I take her to the doc?  Any idea of what could be going on in her head?  It gets out of hand because we can't go anywhere because she will start scream and crying.   Any help would be great!

[jdtm]

I wonder if your daughter suffers from anxiety, probably generalized anxiety or GAD for short.  I might suggest you google the term "GAD and children" or "anxiety behaviors of young children" or similar words/phrases to see if the descriptions remind you of your daughter.  If anxiety is the issue, it is the brain which functions differently - anxiety is usually an inherited trait and usually is not a result of life experiences.  By the way, anxiety is a common disorder and highly treatable.

If you suspect that anxiety might be the issue, then the first stop should be your family doctor.  If he/she is unable to help you, then ask for a referral to a medical mental health specialist as a child psychiatrist or a child neurologist.  Do keep in mind that anxiety is a medical issue and as such requires a medical doctor.  By the way, if anxiety is the issue, I assure you that your daughter will not outgrow this nor will it go away but as I stated before, anxiety is highly treatable.  I wish you the best ....

[babymomma18]

my son when he was 2 and 3 was terafied of lound noise wether it was music other kids bass from movies,cars trucks, planes ect,,, so to me that is normal. but everything i would question, i would bring her in to see someone like a therapist, or child behavour specialist, ect, whatever you have available to you in your area

[pijenna24]

No nothing that has happened to her. Especially with the cat. I asked her if the cat ever bit her or scratched her and she said no.  We asked her why she was acting like that and she would say that the cat got big.  The past couple months have just got worse and worse with the way she acts. I thought nothing of the planes and cars i thought maybe it was just sensitive hearing.  But now i don't know whats going on.

[babymomma18]

i would suggest a child phycologist or tharapist, a reg family doc wont be able to help. i have never heard of a child doing this and its not normal, did she have anything bad happen to her when she was younger that she may remember??