Anxiety is the body’s natural response to stress, but an anxiety disorder is when worry or fear becomes frequent, intense, and hard to control. It is the most common mental health condition, affecting both adults and children, though it can look different in kids. Signs include constant worry, restlessness, and tension. It is very treatable with therapy, medication, or both.
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What is anxiety?
Everyone feels anxious sometimes. It is the keyed-up, uneasy feeling before a big presentation or a hard conversation, and it is a normal, even helpful, response that keeps you alert. Anxiety becomes a disorder when the feeling stops fitting the situation: when the worry is constant, feels out of proportion, and starts getting in the way of daily life.
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health conditions, affecting about 1 in 5 adults each year, along with many children and teens. They take several forms:
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): ongoing worry about many everyday things
- Panic disorder: sudden, intense waves of fear known as panic attacks
- Social anxiety disorder: a strong fear of being in social situations
- Specific phobias: intense fear of one particular thing, like heights or flying
- In children, separation anxiety: intense distress about being apart from a parent
Here is one of the most useful things to understand about anxiety, which is the difference between everyday nerves and a disorder:
| Everyday anxiety | An anxiety disorder |
|---|---|
| Has a clear trigger, like a test or deadline | Often shows up without an obvious reason |
| Eases once the stressful event passes | Lingers for weeks or months |
| Stays manageable | Feels hard to control |
| Does not derail daily life | Interferes with work, school, sleep, or relationships |
The reassuring part is that anxiety is one of the most treatable conditions in medicine. Most people, adults and children alike, improve a great deal with the right care.
What are the symptoms of anxiety?
Anxiety shows up in both the mind and the body, often at the same time. The mental signs are usually what people notice first:
- Constant or excessive worry that is hard to switch off
- Feeling restless, on edge, or keyed up
- Trouble concentrating, or your mind going blank
- Feeling easily irritated
- Expecting the worst, even over small things
The physical symptoms are just as real:
- A racing or pounding heart
- Shortness of breath
- Muscle tension, often in the neck and shoulders
- Trouble sleeping
- Feeling tired or worn out
- Upset stomach, sweating, or trembling
During a panic attack, the physical symptoms can hit suddenly and feel overwhelming, sometimes so much like a heart attack that people go to the ER. If you have chest pain and are not sure what is causing it, it is always safer to get checked.
Anxiety can look different in children. Kids may not say they feel anxious; instead, it often shows up as stomachaches or headaches, irritability or meltdowns, clinginess, trouble sleeping, or avoiding things like school. There is more on what to watch for, and what helps, in the section for parents below.
What causes anxiety?
There is no single cause. Anxiety usually grows out of a mix of biology, life experience, and circumstance, and you can have it without any clear reason at all, which is part of what makes it so confusing to live with.
Some things make it more likely:
- A family history of anxiety or other mental health conditions
- Stressful or traumatic life events
- Personality traits, such as being naturally prone to worry
- Other conditions, especially depression, which often goes hand in hand with anxiety
- Some physical problems, like thyroid issues, that can mimic or trigger it
- Caffeine, alcohol, and certain medications, which can make symptoms worse
Women are about twice as likely as men to have an anxiety disorder, though anyone can develop one at any age, including children.
How is anxiety diagnosed?
There is no blood test for anxiety. It is diagnosed through a conversation where your provider asks about your worries, physical symptoms, how long they have lasted, and how much they affect your daily life. A short questionnaire, such as the GAD‑7, often helps measure how strong the symptoms are. For children, providers use age-appropriate screening and often gather input from parents and, with permission, teachers.
Because some physical conditions can look like anxiety, your provider may also run basic tests, for example to check your thyroid, to rule out another cause before settling on a diagnosis.
How is anxiety treated?
Anxiety is highly treatable, and most people feel meaningfully better with the right plan. Treatment usually blends a few approaches, matched to how much anxiety is affecting your life. (For how treatment works specifically for children and teens, see the next section.)
Therapy for Anxiety
Talk therapy is often the first and most effective step. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the best-studied approach, helps you spot anxious thought patterns and build practical skills to manage them. For some types of anxiety, gradual and supported exposure to feared situations is part of the work.
Medication for Anxiety
Medication can ease symptoms enough to make daily life, and therapy, more manageable. Antidepressants known as SSRIs and SNRIs are the usual first choice, and they are not habit-forming. Your provider will walk through the options, what to expect, and how long to give them.
Lifestyle and self-care management for Anxiety
Daily habits can help make anxiety easier to manage alongside treatment. Regular movement, consistent sleep, limiting caffeine and alcohol, and calming practices like slow breathing or mindfulness can help your body settle over time.
Anxiety in children and teens
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health concerns in young people, affecting nearly 1 in 12 children and as many as 1 in 4 teens. The tricky part for parents is that children often cannot name what they are feeling, so anxiety tends to show up indirectly. Some worry and fear is a normal part of growing up; it is worth a closer look when it is intense, lasts, and gets in the way of school, friendships, or family life.
How anxiety shows up in kids
Signs to watch for include:
- Frequent stomachaches, headaches, or other physical complaints with no clear medical cause
- Irritability, meltdowns, or tearfulness
- Clinginess, or a strong fear of being away from a parent
- Refusing or dreading school, one of the most common signs
- Trouble sleeping, or needing a lot of reassurance
- Avoiding activities, friends, or situations they used to enjoy
What parents can do
You play a big role in helping an anxious child. A few things help:
- Take it seriously and stay calm; anxiety is not attention-seeking or something a child can just snap out of
- Acknowledge the feeling without over-reassuring or arranging life to avoid every fear, since avoidance tends to feed anxiety
- Gently encourage facing worries in small, supported steps, and praise the effort
- Keep regular routines and sleep, and go easy on caffeine
- Loop in your pediatrician early, and tell the school so they can support your child
Talking with your pediatrician about anxiety
Your child’s pediatrician is a great first call. They can tell normal developmental fears from an anxiety disorder, screen for anxiety (recommended for children 8 and older), start a plan, and connect you with child-focused behavioral health care. For children and teens, talk therapy is the most effective first treatment, often with parents involved. For moderate or severe anxiety, medication (usually an SSRI) may be added, and the pediatrician and a behavioral health specialist often share that care.
What is it like to live with anxiety?
Most people learn to manage anxiety rather than erase it, and that management gets easier with practice. The goal is not to never feel anxious, since some anxiety is normal and even protective. It is to keep anxiety from running the show.
What helps day to day is having tools you trust: the coping skills from therapy, a routine that protects your sleep and movement, and a provider you can check in with when things flare. Anxiety tends to ebb and flow with life’s stresses, and a rough stretch does not mean you are back to square one. The same is true for kids, whose anxiety may resurface at new ages or transitions and respond well to a refresh of the skills that helped before.
Can anxiety be prevented or reduced?
You cannot always prevent anxiety, but you can lower how often and how hard it hits. Many of the same habits that treat it also keep it in check: regular exercise, enough sleep, going easy on caffeine and alcohol, and staying connected to people you trust. Learning to notice your early warning signs, and acting on them before things build, makes a real difference. Getting help early, rather than waiting until anxiety is severe, tends to lead to a faster and fuller recovery, and this is just as true for children, where early support can protect school and friendships.
When should I see a doctor?
It is worth reaching out sooner than you might think. Anxiety responds best to early care, and you do not have to be in crisis to deserve help.
Talk to a provider
Make an appointment if worry or fear has lasted for weeks, feels hard to control, or is getting in the way of work, school, sleep, relationships, or things once enjoyed. A primary care provider, or your child’s pediatrician, is a good first stop and can begin treatment or connect you with behavioral health care.
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Reach out soon
Do not wait if anxiety comes with low mood, you (or your teen) are leaning on alcohol or other substances to cope, or panic attacks are becoming frequent. For a child, sudden school refusal or a big change in behavior is also a reason to reach out soon. These are signs it is time for more support.
Get help right away
If you or your child is having thoughts of self-harm or feels unable to stay safe, reach out right away. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, or call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. If you have chest pain or trouble breathing and are not sure whether it is a panic attack, treat it as an emergency and get checked.
Who treats anxiety?
Anxiety is often treated by more than one kind of provider, working together. For many people, a primary care provider is the first stop, and for children and teens, that is usually the pediatrician. Pediatric, internal medicine, and family medicine providers, with the nurse practitioners and physician assistants on their teams, can diagnose anxiety, rule out physical causes, start treatment, and refer to specialized care when it helps.
Behavioral health providers handle the therapy side and more complex care. They include therapists and psychologists, who provide counseling such as CBT, and psychiatrists, who are medical doctors specializing in mental health and in managing medication for more involved cases. Many have specific training in children and teens.
Typically, the providers involved are:
- Primary care, including pediatrics, internal medicine, and family medicine, for diagnosis, first-line treatment, and referrals
- Therapists and psychologists, including child and adolescent specialists, for talk therapy like CBT
- Psychiatrists, including child and adolescent psychiatrists, for complex or medication-focused care
Often these work as a team, with your primary care provider or pediatrician and a behavioral health provider sharing the plan, especially when anxiety overlaps with depression or another condition.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between anxiety and everyday stress?
The biggest difference is how long it lasts and how much it takes over. Everyday stress is a normal reaction that eases once the pressure lifts. An anxiety disorder is a recognized mental health condition where worry or fear sticks around, feels out of proportion, and gets in the way of daily life. Put simply, a stressful week is normal, while weeks of worry you cannot shake may be something more.
Can anxiety cause physical symptoms?
Yes, very much so. Anxiety can cause a racing heart, shortness of breath, muscle tension, stomach trouble, dizziness, and fatigue. These physical symptoms are real, not imagined, and during a panic attack they can feel intense enough to be mistaken for a heart problem. In children, physical complaints like stomachaches are often the first sign.
How do I know if my child has anxiety, and what can I do?
Children often show anxiety through physical complaints (like stomachaches), irritability, clinginess, trouble sleeping, or avoiding school, rather than saying they are worried. It is worth attention when these are intense, persistent, and interfere with daily life. Start by talking with your pediatrician, who can sort out what is going on and connect you with care. At home, take the worry seriously, keep routines, and gently encourage facing fears in small steps rather than avoiding them.
Will I have to take medication for anxiety?
Not necessarily. Many people improve with therapy and lifestyle changes alone, and for children, therapy is usually the first treatment. Medication is one option among several, and it is often used for a period of time rather than forever. You and your provider decide together, based on how much anxiety is affecting daily life.
How long does it take to feel better from anxiety treatment?
It varies. Some people notice progress with therapy within a few weeks, while anxiety medications often take about 4 to 6 weeks to reach their full effect. Improvement tends to be gradual, and sticking with the plan is what makes it last.
Where can I get help for anxiety in Chicagoland?
Duly Health and Care primary care providers and pediatricians across the Chicago suburbs can evaluate anxiety in adults and children, start treatment, and connect you with Duly behavioral health care when therapy or specialized support would help. You can book a visit online, and video visits are available, which many people find easier for talking through anxiety.
Care for Anxiety at Duly Health and Care
Anxiety is common, treatable, and nothing to be embarrassed about, and getting help is easier than many people expect. Duly primary care providers and pediatricians can be your starting point. They will listen, rule out physical causes, begin treatment, and bring in Duly behavioral health providers, including therapists and psychiatrists who work with children, teens, and adults, when therapy or specialized care would help. Because anxiety often travels with other concerns like depression, having your care connected in one place keeps the whole process simpler.
With primary care, pediatrics, and behavioral health across the Chicago suburbs, plus video visits that many people find more comfortable for these conversations, support is within reach for the whole family.
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Medically reviewed by Allison Croucher, DO — last reviewed June 2026
