What does anxiety look like in a child?

[D]

  I read the post above about symptoms of anxiety in adults. What does that look like in a child?

Two things I've noticed in my 9y/o are him twisting his fingers (like wringing his hands), and his pupils become very large when dh or I are speaking (not yelling or intimidating) directly to him.

He also becomes overstimulated fairly easily, like when his world becomes too big--too much going on or too much time with other kids.

Are these anxiety sypmtoms? What else should I look for? Would anyone recommend meds to treat anxiety to allow healing?

[sandramomof4]

I would say they are symptoms. Our son has all of those symptoms plus a few more such as not sleeping well and all his negative behaviors escalate.

[MissB]

here is a short list of what goes on in my house
picking nails
fiddling with things - clothes (especially hems), hair, basically anything that will take part of their mind off of what is making them anxious at the  time
biting their tongue (yep, mine will sit there and bit her tongue so she can think about the pain rather than what is making her anxious)
biting nails (and toe nails especially) - mine is 14 years old and not once in 6 years has she ever needed her nails trimmed!
pulling out hair, and eyebrows
picking at skin
scratching (mine will start clawing around her neck)
avoidance of doing something - perhaps there is anxiety wrapped up in what you want them to do
extreme quietness (when they normally will be vocal)
extreme vocalness (when they normally will be quiet)
pre sleepy frenzies (where they get wound up or do anything to keep from going to bed0 because they are anxious about going to bed because they believe things will change in the morning (my 14 year old STILL does this one)
binging on sweets
binging on food
not looking you in the eyes when you speak or they speak to you (too intense for them), unless they are lying then
they look you dead in the eye
attempting to keep you out of (fill in the blank - their room, the bathroom, her dirty clothes basket)...

[Carlie1975]

RAD is anxiety based.  If your kid has RAD, they have anxiety.  And yes, treating the underlying anxiety allows them to break out of the fight/flight/freeze response long enough to process information that is necessary for them to be *able* to choose healing.