I don't have many answers at this point but this is exactly the child I have with anxiety issues. He is 6 and worries himself into a frenzy. When he started pulling his hair out and having nightly nightmares and sleeping issues, we took him to a LCSW who is a School Social Worker in our district and has a private practice on the side.

We told him about "confidentiality" and that this would be a person whomhe could talk to that had to keep his secrets. We told him it was a safe place where he could talk and get some tools to help him feel better. He was open to it and excited about it.

She was pretty and enthusiastic which helped for my DS. After his first session he said he wanted to go again because it made him feel "refreshed" like a sensory break at school.

She got to know him and since he likes Lego Ninjago, she helped him make a book about being a Ninja based on their work together. It said Ninjas were brave and strong and just kept going. They talked about how he could keep going and the book showed the "Ninja Tools" he could use. She also talked to him about his "worry brain" and how his body reacted.

That was very helpful but the most useful thing that I have learned is the power of intense aerobic exercise. I've learned that tryptophan which is a protein used to make Seratonin in the brain is a smaller amino acid which is often blocked when other larger amino acids are in your system. When you exercise intensely your muscles use up many of the larger amino acids allowing more tryptophan to make it in to the brain and boosts seratonin. Many have heard of the "runner's high". Seratonin is soothing to anxiety issues in the cingulate gyrus and calms things down. I found the effects rather amazing really.

We saw big improvement for my son when we took him to the track and let him run a half mile to a mile each day. The more severe the anxiety is the more exercise he needs.

For sleep, one technique I read that helps at my house is a form of self hypnosis. You focus on something and take in 3 slow deep breaths. Then close your eyes and imagine walking down a staircase of 100 steps counting backwards till you reach the bottom. At the bottom you can open the door to the most relaxing place you can imagine and spend time enjoying the smells, sights, sounds, feelings of that place.

This usually works on one try and we do it each night. When needed we will go down the steps again or go to another staircase like the one we call number 3 where we go down 300 steps counting backward by 3's.

I also read that if going to sleep takes longer than 20 min you should stop, get up for a bit and try again an hour later. This saved us some real misery a few times.

I hope some of this is helpful for you! Sleep issues are debilitating and anxiety issues feel so frustrating as a parent because it feels like nothing you do or say helps. Helpless is hard.