Conditions · Ages 6 to 60

Anxiety care for children, teens & adults

Worry is part of every life. Anxiety is what happens when worry stops being useful: when it starts deciding what your child does, which plans you make, and how well anyone in the house sleeps. It's one of the most common reasons people come to me, and one of the areas where careful treatment changes daily life most.

By age

One condition, three disguises

Anxiety wears a different face at every age, and the face it wears is rarely labeled “worry.” Part of my job is recognizing it in the language each person actually uses.

Children · ages 6 to 12

It shows up in the body first

Young children rarely say “I’m anxious.” Instead, anxiety speaks through the body and through behavior: stomachaches and headaches on school mornings that are entirely real, even when the pediatrician finds nothing wrong. Tears at drop-off long past the age anyone expected. A child who starts refusing school and can’t fully explain why. Trouble falling asleep alone, endless “what if” questions, big reactions to small changes in plans.

None of this is misbehavior, and none of it is “just a phase” to wait out once it’s disrupting school, sleep, or family life. It’s a child telling us something in the language they have. Part of my work is translating, with your child, and with you.

Teens · ages 13 to 17

It hides inside things that look like something else

In adolescence, anxiety is a skilled impersonator. It can look like perfectionism that turns every assignment into a crisis, or like procrastination, which is often the same fear in different clothes. It can look like avoidance: skipped classes, activities quietly dropped, a shrinking circle of friends. It can look like irritability that gets read as attitude, or sleep pushed later and later into the night.

Some teens also experience panic: a racing heart, shortness of breath, a wave of dread that arrives out of nowhere and convinces them something is medically wrong. Most teens know something is off long before they say so out loud. A calm, private conversation with someone who isn’t their parent often helps the words come.

Adults · ages 18 to 60

It has had years to pass as personality

By adulthood, anxiety has usually been renamed: “I’m just a worrier.” “I’m a planner.” “I run on stress.” It can look like constant tension, decisions replayed at 2 a.m., a mind that rehearses conversations before and after they happen, and physical symptoms, from a racing heart to an unsettled stomach, that may have sent you to other doctors first.

Anxiety this practiced deserves more than reassurance. It deserves a doctor who asks how long it’s been there, what it’s attached to, what it’s costing you, and what else might be traveling with it.

Anxiety, autism & ADHD

Often intertwined, and the order matters

Anxiety rarely travels alone. Much of my work is untangling it from autism and ADHD, because treating the right thing, in the right order, is the difference between a plan that works and one that only should.

With autism

For autistic children and adults, anxiety is one of the most common companions. Sometimes it’s a separate condition that needs its own treatment. Sometimes what looks like anxiety is an understandable response to environments that are unpredictable, loud, or socially demanding, and the answer starts with adjusting the environment, not just the person. Telling those apart changes the whole plan, and it’s exactly what my autism fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital prepared me to do.

About autism care →

With ADHD

ADHD and anxiety tangle in both directions. Years of missed deadlines, lost belongings, and accumulated criticism can produce very real anxiety, and treating the anxiety alone leaves the engine that drives it running. In the other direction, an anxious mind can be restless and unfocused enough to look like ADHD. Sorting out which is driving and which is along for the ride takes an unhurried history, not a checklist.

About ADHD care →

Treatment

What treatment can involve

Understanding first

Before anything is treated, I want the whole picture: the story so far, school reports and prior evaluations (read before we meet), plus sleep, health, and what daily life actually looks like. The first appointment of 90 to 120 minutes exists for exactly this reason.

Therapy, coordinated

For many people, especially children, therapy is where anxiety treatment begins, and research supports it well. If you already have a therapist, I coordinate with them so care pulls in one direction. If you don’t, I’ll help you find the right kind for your situation.

Medication, when appropriate

Medication is a tool, not a default. When the picture is clear and medication makes sense, we discuss it openly: what it’s for, what to expect, and how we’ll know whether it’s working. I prescribe conservatively, following all federal and state requirements.

Not sure whether what you’re seeing is anxiety, ADHD, autism, or several at once? That’s a normal place to start, and sorting it out is my job, not yours. See how the process works →

Ready to begin?

Send the inquiry form and you will hear back within 3 business days. Dr. Ozdemir reviews every inquiry herself and confirms fit before anything is scheduled.

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