Anxiety and anxiety disorders are not just a problem that comes in a person's adult years. Anxiety affects kids too.

For a long time we have thought of anxiety and anxiety attacks as being a problem that affects adults but research by a psychologist at the Queensland University of Technology has shown that children as young as five can suffer from anxiety disorders.

Psychologist and education researcher Dr Marilyn Campbell suggests that those children most likely to suffer from anxiety disorders were good students with plenty of imagination who always want to please parents and teachers. She also describes them as being perfectionists, procrastinators and emotionally fragile.

These children can become “overly anxious” about physical hurt, interacting with new people, being left alone or changing routine

It’s important that parents and teachers identify these problems early because 60 percent of teenagers who have a substance abuse problem, an eating disorder or depression have a history of a prior anxiety disorder.