Your young child may experience mood changes according to adjustments in sleep, eating, schedules, and interests. You may also notice new phases where your child is temporarily moody during a developmental change. For example, as kids approach puberty or a big change like a new school, they might be moody for a bit.
At any age, crying is a normal response to being overwhelmed by strong feelings, like anger, fear, stress, or even happiness. Some children, however, cry more than others. Those same children may get angry more often, feel frustrated faster, and get overly excited compared to their peers too.
Occasional tantrums and irritability are normal parts of childhood, but some kids have frequent, extreme tantrums — at an age when most kids have outgrown them — and are irritable most of the time. Those are signs that they might have what's called disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, or DMDD.
Kids have a hard time with emotions for different reasons. These include stress and mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Kids who experience trauma may also struggle. It's very common for kids with ADHD to have trouble managing emotions.
Symptoms of anxiety in children
not eating properly. quickly getting angry or irritable, and being out of control during outbursts. constantly worrying or having negative thoughts. feeling tense and fidgety, or using the toilet often.
Children with ADHD experience the same emotions as do other children, but their feelings are more frequent, intense, and longer-lasting. Because the underlying brain mechanisms that help manage emotions are affected by ADHD, emotional regulation development is delayed.
Continuous feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Difficulty concentrating. Fatigue and low energy. Feelings of worthlessness or guilt.
Symptoms of bipolar disorder in children include: Serious mood swings that differ from their usual mood swings. These happen often, can last a long time, and greatly affect the way a child acts. Being very hyperactive, impulsive and aggressive, which affects how a child acts socially and in other areas of life.
Personality disorders usually become apparent in adolescence or early adulthood. Although not as common, they can begin during childhood.
Feelings of sadness, loss, or emotional extremes are part of growing up. Conflicts between parents and children are also inevitable as children struggle from the “terrible twos” through adolescence to develop their own identities. These are normal changes in behavior due to growth and development.
Highly sensitive children are wired to process and react to their experiences in the world more deeply than other children. A highly sensitive child is very attuned to their environment, experiences, relationships, and expectations. A child's high sensitivity is about their temperament.
Children in this age group might: Start to form stronger, more complex friendships and peer relationships. It becomes more emotionally important to have friends, especially of the same sex. Experience more peer pressure.
Tantrums occur at any age. Though you may not call it a tantrum beyond toddler or preschool age, children, teens, and adults alike can emotionally lose control. Anger is not bad or negative. You should not avoid or shut down the experience of it.
Why they do it: To get attention or because they're still learning how to handle their emotions. Some kids may be acting. Others "really feel things deeply, intensely. In the moment, they are devastated," Huebner says.
Children with bipolar disorder sometimes feel very happy or “up” and are much more energetic and active than usual. This is called a manic episode. Children with bipolar disorder sometimes feel very sad or “down” and are much less active than usual. This is called a depressive episode.
Although bipolar disorder more commonly develops in older teenagers and young adults, it can appear in children as young as 6. In recent years, it's become a controversial diagnosis. Some experts believe it is rare and being overdiagnosed; others think the opposite.
With ADHD, a child or teen may have rapid or impulsive speech, physical restlessness, trouble focusing, irritability, and, sometimes, defiant or oppositional behavior.
For children, anger issues often accompany other mental health conditions, including ADHD, autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Tourette's syndrome. Genetics and other biological factors are thought to play a role in anger/aggression. Environment is a contributor as well.
People who have ADHD frequently experience emotions so deeply that they become overwhelmed or “flooded.” They may feel joy, anger, pain, or confusion in a given situation—and the intensity may precede impulsive behaviors they regret later.