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Suite 3.3, Level 3, 48 Flemington Rd
Parkville, VIC 3052
Clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital

Anxiety

All children experience fears and worries from time to time. If the fears and worries are persistent, or seem out of proportion to what is happening in a young person’s life, we may describe this as anxiety.

Signs that your child might be experiencing anxiety include:

  • Worrying a lot (about a specific topic, or a range of topics)
  • Feeling scared or fearful
  • Avoiding things that he / she is afraid of
  • Difficulty being away from parents/caregivers (including difficulty sleeping alone)
  • Wanting things to be perfect, or to be “in control”
  • A strong need to repeat certain actions, or certain thoughts, over and over
  • Frequent reassurance-seeking
  • Concentration problems
  • Physical aches or pains (e.g., stomach aches, headaches) without a known medical cause
  • Seeming irritable or agitated
  • Fatigue
  • Sleep difficulties

It may be helpful to consult with a professional if your child’s fears or worries are interfering with his/her ability to do things that other children of their age are doing easily, or interfering with enjoyment in one or more areas of life (e.g., friendships, schoolwork, or family life).

The following practitioners at CPMG can be of service in evaluating and managing anxiety in children and adolescents:

Daryl is a paediatrician who has worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital for 30 years and currently holds appointments as a general paediatrician in the department of General Medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital, associate professor in the University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics, and senior research fellow in the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Daryl is active in research into better ways to treat children with developmental disorders such as autism, ADHD and Tourette syndrome.

Alice is a general paediatrician who cares for children with a wide range of medical, behavioral and developmental problems, from birth to adolescence. She enjoys helping children and their families to reach their full potential, and takes a patient-centered, compassionate approach to care.

Amanda is a general paediatrician and clinical pharmacologist. Amanda has experience in caring for children with a range of both acute and chronic medical conditions, from birth to adolescence.

Chantal is a General Paediatrician with a background in neurodevelopmental and behavioural paediatrics and has extensive experience working with children and young people with complex presentations including Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, anxiety and depression, learning difficulties and nutritional issues. She enjoys providing care to all children from birth to 18 years of age.

Emily is a General Paediatrician who enjoys managing children of all ages with a family centered, holistic approach. She has a specific interest in managing children with complex genetic or medical problems as well as developmental and behavioural conditions such as autism, anxiety, ADHD and learning disorders. She also enjoys working with children who have constipation, encopresis, wetting issues, sleep problems, headaches and other common paediatric medical conditions.

Dr Kate Milner is a developmental and general paediatrician with specific expertise in assessment and care of children with a wide range of general medical, developmental, learning, emotional and behavioural difficulties. She takes a strengths-based approach to her developmental practice, working in partnership with families and community service providers to support every child to reach their unique potential.

Katie is a General Paediatrician who enjoys working with children and their families to achieve excellent outcomes. She has particular interests in eczema, asthma, constipation, encopresis, enuresis, infectious disease, developmental and behavioural issues, autism, ADHD, anxiety, growth and adolescent medicine. 

Michaela trained as a Paediatrician at the Royal Children’s and The Mercy Hospitals in Melbourne.

During her training Michaela specialised in developmental and behavioural paediatrics, but since then she has continued to work both acute and outpatient settings, seeing children of all ages, including babies.

Michaela’s areas of interests include developmental delay, speech delay, failure to thrive and growth concerns, Autism, ADHD, constipation, encopresis and enuresis, behavioural problems, anxiety, eczema, asthma and urinary tract infections.

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