Arnold Tatenda Musa [email protected]
Childhood worry is normal, but when it becomes persistent, overwhelming and disruptive, it can affect a child’s school attendance, relationships, sleep, confidence and development.
Economic hardship, family challenges, violence, school pressures, food insecurity and repeated crises may increase children’s emotional burden. The key concern is whether anxiety has become a barrier to learning, healthy relationships and overall development.
Anxiety is a normal part of childhood, but it becomes a disorder when fear or worry is excessive, persistent, difficult to control and interferes with daily life. In children, anxiety may appear through school refusal, separation distress, social avoidance, physical complaints such as headaches or stomach aches, and excessive worrying.
Such children may be wrongly labelled as difficult, shy or attention-seeking, when they may actually be experiencing significant emotional distress.
Anxiety is a significant concern among children and adolescents worldwide. In 2023, about 146 million children and adolescents were estimated to be living with an anxiety disorder.
In Africa, studies also show high levels of psychological distress and anxiety among young people. While these figures cannot be directly applied to Zimbabwean children, they highlight the growing importance of recognising and addressing anxiety and mental-health challenges among young people.
Zimbabwe lacks comprehensive national data on childhood anxiety, making the true extent of the problem difficult to determine. The 2019 survey reported anxiety among about three percent of adolescents aged 15–17, while research in Harare and Mashonaland East found 37,4 percent of young people screened positive for probable common mental disorders.
Although these figures do not represent national anxiety prevalence, they highlight the significant psychological distress affecting Zimbabwean young people and the need for greater attention and support.
Anxiety can negatively affect a child’s school attendance, concentration, participation, relationships and academic performance. It may appear as fear, withdrawal, irritability, disruptive behaviour or physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches and sleep problems.
Some children may avoid friends or activities they previously enjoyed. For children already facing poverty, disability or family difficulties, anxiety can become an additional barrier to learning and healthy development.
Childhood anxiety is influenced by social and environmental challenges such as poverty, food insecurity, family disruption, violence, displacement, climate-related disasters and educational disruptions. However, experiencing adversity does not necessarily lead to an anxiety disorder.
Supportive families, teachers, friendships, safe communities and access to appropriate services can help protect children’s mental health. Therefore, adversity highlights the need for adults to pay closer attention to children’s emotional wellbeing.
Young people need safe spaces where they can speak openly and be heard without judgement. Anxiety can worsen when children fear punishment, ridicule or dismissal. Improving mental-health awareness and literacy can help families, schools and communities recognise serious psychological difficulties and connect children with appropriate support while respecting existing cultural and community support systems.
A teacher may notice that a previously confident learner has stopped participating. A child may repeatedly visit the sick bay because of unexplained physical complaints. Another may become aggressive or disruptive. A high-achieving learner may become paralysed by fear of making mistakes.
Schools therefore have an important opportunity to identify difficulties early. They do not need to turn teachers into psychologists. Teachers need appropriate knowledge to distinguish ordinary childhood behaviour from warning signs that require further attention.
Zimbabwe has existing community-based mental-health approaches, particularly the Friendship Bench, supported by the World Health Organisation, priorities to expand affordable services and strengthen the mental-health workforce. The Youth Friendship Bench has shown promising uptake among adolescents, demonstrating the value of accessible, peer-based support. This suggests that children’s mental-healthcare can be strengthened through a broader support network involving teachers, nurses, social workers, community health workers, trained peers and primary-care providers, supported by proper training, supervision and referral systems.
Parents do not need to diagnose anxiety. They should notice, listen and respond with patience and without dismissing children’s fears. Open-ended questions can help children express their concerns and access appropriate support.
Childhood anxiety is a developmental issue, not simply a private family concern, because it can affect education, relationships, sleep, confidence and future potential. Zimbabwe needs stronger data, accessible community and school-based services, trained professionals, effective referral systems and greater awareness among parents and teachers. Early support is important so children receive help before anxiety becomes severe.
Thus, childhood anxiety should be understood as an important aspect of child development rather than simply as a private or temporary concern. While normal childhood fears and worries do not necessarily require clinical intervention, persistent, excessive, and overwhelming anxiety warrants appropriate recognition and support.
Early identification and intervention are essential to minimise the potential impact of anxiety on children’s educational participation, social relationships, emotional wellbeing, and overall developmental outcomes.
Therefore, efforts to address childhood anxiety should focus on strengthening children’s coping capacities, promoting supportive environments, reducing stigma, and ensuring access to appropriate mental-health services. Such approaches can contribute to enabling children to manage anxiety effectively and participate meaningfully in learning, play, relationships, and their future development.
Arnold Tatenda Musa is a postgraduate student at Great Zimbabwe University with an interest in child mental health, psychological wellbeing and counselling.
