What signs of anxiety in kids do parents most often miss?

Parents often miss anxiety in kids because it doesn't always look like worry. It frequently presents as avoidance of activities or situations, emotional outbursts, freezing, or physical complaints like stomachaches. Because these behaviors can look like defiance, sensitivity, or physical illness, anxiety often goes unrecognized until it becomes significantly disruptive.

What is harm OCD in children?

Harm OCD is a subtype of OCD characterized by intrusive, unwanted thoughts about harming oneself or others. These thoughts cause significant distress precisely because they are ego-dystonic — meaning they go against the person's values and character. Children with harm OCD are not dangerous; they are disturbed by these thoughts and often go to great lengths to avoid situations that might trigger them. Proper diagnosis is essential because harm OCD requires specialized CBT treatment.

Does reassurance help or hurt kids with OCD?

Reassurance typically makes OCD worse over time, even though it provides short-term relief. When a parent reassures a child with OCD — confirming they are safe, that nothing bad will happen, or that their fears are unfounded — it temporarily reduces distress but reinforces the compulsive reassurance-seeking cycle. Effective OCD treatment helps children tolerate uncertainty rather than eliminating it.

How does social media affect kids' mental health?

Social media and internet use have changed the landscape of childhood in ways that are still being studied. Constant connectivity, social comparison, exposure to distressing content, and disrupted sleep from screen use all appear to contribute to increased anxiety and mood challenges in children and adolescents. The impact varies by child, but the combination of puberty and heavy social media use creates a particularly vulnerable window.

How can parents support an anxious child without reinforcing anxiety?

Supporting an anxious child without reinforcing avoidance requires a balance of validation and gentle encouragement toward facing feared situations. Accommodating anxiety — allowing a child to skip triggering situations repeatedly or providing excessive reassurance — tends to increase anxiety over time. Working with a therapist trained in CBT for childhood anxiety can help parents develop strategies that support their child without inadvertently strengthening the anxiety cycle.

What is the sandwich generation and how does it relate to kids' mental health?

The sandwich generation refers to adults — often women in midlife — who are simultaneously raising children and caring for aging parents while managing their own health. For women navigating perimenopause or menopause, the added stress of parenting a child with anxiety, OCD, or ADHD can compound their own hormonal and mental health challenges. Understanding children's mental health is part of caring for the whole family system.

Anxiety, OCD, and ADHD in Kids with Dr. John Parkhurst

Name: Anxiety, OCD, and ADHD in Kids with Dr. John Parkhurst
Uploaded: 2026-05-29
Channel: Sameena Rahman, MD, FACOG, IF, MSCP
Description: Dr. John Parkhurst joins Dr. Rahman on what anxiety, OCD, and ADHD actually look like in kids — including the signs parents miss and treatments that work.

May 29

Written By Sameena Rahman, MD, FACOG, IF, MSCP

While my usual focus is on women's health and menopause, this episode steps outside that to address something many of you are dealing with. Parenting has changed. With the use of the internet and social media, it may feel very different from how it did for past generations.

Anxiety is showing up in kids more often. OCD diagnoses are rising. And challenges with focus and impulse control are becoming more common.

For many of you in the sandwich generation, managing your own health while parenting kids and caring for aging parents, understanding what's happening with your children's mental health matters just as much as managing your own.

In this episode, I talk with Dr. John Parkhurst, a child psychologist at Northwestern in Chicago, about what's really happening with kids' mental health. He discusses the difference between normal worry and anxiety disorders, explains what harm OCD actually is, and discusses which treatments actually work. We also talk about ADHD, why anxiety spikes during puberty, and what parents can do to support their kids without losing themselves in the process.

What You'll Learn:

The signs of anxiety in kids that parents often miss or misinterpret.
How anxiety differs from OCD and why the distinction matters for treatment.
Why does anxiety increase during puberty, and what triggers it?
Treatment options include therapy, medication, and combined approaches.
How to support your child without reinforcing anxious behaviors.
The role of reassurance in OCD cycles.
ADHD, executive function, and parenting strategies that help.
How social media and technology impact kids' mental health.

Every episode of Gyno Girl Presents is a conversation I wish more women could have with their doctors — without the 10-minute clock running. Subscribe wherever you listen, and if this episode helped you, share it with a woman who needs to hear it.

Children's Mental HealthAnxietyOCDADHDChild PsychologyParentingPubertyCognitive Behavioral TherapyExecutive FunctionSandwich GenerationMental Health Treatment

Sameena Rahman, MD, FACOG, IF, MSCP

Dr. Sameena Rahman is a board-certified OB/GYN and founder of The GSM Collective in Chicago. She specializes in sexual medicine, menopause care, and complex gynecology, offering personalized, concierge-level care through an integrative lens.

Anxiety, OCD, and ADHD in Kids with Dr. John Parkhurst

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Anxiety, OCD, and ADHD in Kids with Dr. John Parkhurst

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