Introduction
The Anita Saltz Institute for Anxiety and Mood Disorders offers diagnostic evaluation, medication, and cognitive-behavioral treatment programs for children, adolescents, and young adults suffering from anxiety and mood disorders. For more information, or to schedule an appointment, please contact our intake coordinator at (212) 263-8916 or e-mail us at services@aboutourkids.org.
Childhood Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem affecting children, and are the primary reason that they are referred to a mental health professional. Anxiety is highly treatable—90 percent of people treated for anxiety disorders recover fully.
Various forms of anxiety disorders include:
- Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD): Anxiety over separating from familiar people and situations.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Excessive and uncontrollable worry about a variety of topics (e.g. school, future events, past events, competence).
- Social Phobia: Excessive shyness and/or distress in social or evaluative situations.
- Panic Disorder (with or without Agoraphobia): Recurrent, unexpected panic attacks that interfere with everyday functioning.
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Persistent, unwanted thoughts or feelings and an overwhelming need to perform certain behaviors or think particular thoughts.
- Specific Phobias: Irrational fear of a specific object or situation that poses no real threat. Common phobias are darkness, insects, vomiting, and thunder.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: An anxiety disorder that develops as a result of having experienced a traumatic event such as a serious accident, natural disaster, or abuse.
Mood Disorders
Mood disorders treated by our specialty team include dysthymia and depression. Signs of dysthymia or depression may include depressed or sad mood, irritability, changes in eating or sleeping habits, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fatigue, lack of interest in previously enjoyed activities, difficulty concentrating, and/or thoughts of death and dying.
Services
To learn more about anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, or to schedule an appointment, please contact our intake coordinator at (212) 263-8916 or e-mail us at services@aboutourkids.org. You can also review our Anxiety Checklist for Parents, which describes some symptoms typical of children with an anxiety disorder.
Assessment
Following the initial intake appointment, children, adolescents, and young adults with suspected anxiety or mood problems are referred to the Anxiety and Mood specialty team. A staff member will conduct an in-depth diagnostic interview and administer several questionnaires to you and your child in order to establish a comprehensive and accurate diagnosis and treatment plan. After this appointment, we will discuss with you and your child the most appropriate treatment to meet your needs.
Treatment
Treatment options are based on extensive scientific research which tells us which treatments are most suitable and effective for a particular disorder. When devising a treatment plan, we also take into consideration factors like the amount of distress experienced by your child, and the amount of disruption in your child's social, academic, and family functioning.
Two specific modalities for the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders are medication and cognitive behavioral therapy.
- Medications are available which act directly on the central nervous system to calm an individual with anxiety, or lift the mood of a depressed person.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is very effective in assisting an individual with controlling her emotions and regaining a normal life. CBT involves education about the nature of anxiety or depression and teaching specific skills for managing the physical sensations, negative thoughts, and problematic behaviors that accompany these disorders. In addition, through CBT an individual learns in a step-by-step fashion how to master those situation that cause her distress. For some, the combination of medication and CBT is the most effective course of treatment.
Whether medication or CBT, the length of treatment varies depending on your child's distress. Our CBT programs vary from a few sessions (3-5) to 20 sessions or more, depending on the diagnosis and the severity of your child's concerns. Your therapist will discuss the length and course of treatment with you and provide you with information about what to expect regarding your child's progress.
To learn more about CBT, read Cognitive Behavior Therapy: What Is It and How Does It Work?
Programs and Studies for Overcoming Shyness and Social Anxiety
Cognitive behavioral group treatment for social phobia is a program offered to youth suffering with shyness and social anxiety. Groups for children ages 8 to 12, and adolescents ages 13 to 17 involve 20 sessions; whereas the young adult social anxiety program consists of an accelerated 12-session program.
Some of the specific cognitive behavioral treatment programs offered at the Child Study Center include:
Ongoing Treatment Program
Help for Shy or Socially Anxious Teenagers (PDF) Currently Recruiting
Coping Kids! Involves both individual and family sessions for children and adolescents presenting with generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, and multiple phobic disorders.
How I Beat OCD involves 18 sessions of exposure and response prevention (ERP) for the treatment of childhood Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Emotion Management Training is a school based program for the treatment of anxiety and depression and prevention of substance abuse in high school youth.
School Smarts! is a program for the treatment of anxiety and prevention of school refusal behavior.
Treatments of Adolescent Depression Study is a multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy and medication in the treatment of adolescent depression. Eligible youth receive free treatment and follow-up care over a 2-year period.
Treatment Studies
Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Adolescents with DepressionRecruiting Adolescents with Depression (PDF)
Information Sheet for Physicans, Schools and Professionals (PDF)
Adolescents, ages 12–19, with depression for 6 weeks or longer, are being evaluated for participation in a new NCCAM/NIH-funded study conducted by Vilma Gabbay, M.D. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if a daily dietary supplement of omega-3 fatty acids (fish oils) has a beneficial effect in the treatment of depression in adolescents.
If you are interested in learning more about the study, or in having your teenager evaluated for depression, please contact Leah Guttman at (212) 263-3654 (guttml01@med.nyu.edu) or Lev Gottlieb at 212-263-2494 (gottll02@med.nyu.edu).
