Anxiety and Depression in Children in the age of COVID-19

Children are emotional barometers and can feel when their parents are stressed and anxious.
With the start of this new school year, we’re all on edge due to safety concerns. Kids daily lives have been disrupted and many adults are playing the roles of teachers (which has greatly deepen our respect for them), and in person classrooms look nothing like they did before.
Teachers, parents, and children alike or dealing with more than they ever have.
Dealing with YOUR anxiety and talking openly with your kids about theirs can be a powerful way to make sure your kids feel secure.
Teaching your children about anxiety and it’s fear based nature can help the whole family be more resilient, now and when things normalize.
Children have been at home for months. Changes such as needing to wear forms of protective masks can be scary and constant reminders of what is making us all anxious. Safety. They may also find it difficult being physically distanced from friends and teachers while at school contributing to higher feelings of loneliness and depression.
Be aware that anxiety and depression often co-occur. Between 10% /20% of adults in a 12-month period will visit their PCP during a depressive or anxiety disorder episode, and nearly 50% of will suffer from co-morbid, secondary depressive or anxiety disorder.
The essential feature of generalized anxiety disorder is excessive anxiety and worry about a number of events or activities. The intensity of the worry is out of proportion to the perceived likelihood of the anticipated event.
With Covid, many have experienced excessive worry or anxiety occurring more days than not over the last the 6 months. This could be an indicator of an Anxiety Disorder.
Several forms of psychotherapy are widely available and effective for both anxiety and depression from CBT to Talk Therapy which can be extremely effective online/virtually or in clinic socially distanced.
Emotional and mental health are famously complicated. Our teams at TexasCareCenter.com is able to assist nationwide and accepts insurance.

Parenting Tips:

1. Acknowledge. Shielding your children from information doesn’t work in the same way it did when we were kids. Google nixed that. Be honest with your kids and listen to their concerns when discussing their new school year.
2. Stick to a routine. Try to be a routine oriented as you can. This is the time your child will need it most. Breakfast routines especially help.
3. Make family time. Be consistent but also take time to enjoy your children for the unique beings they are together. Do dinner and homework together if you can.
4. Be conscious of physical health checks. CNN and FOX aren’t checking your child’s temperature, that’s your job. Be conscious that we are in discovery phase with COVID-19. Your child deserve you looking after them.
5. Reassure. Be present and listen but also reassure your child that you’ll be there when they need you. It’s important you say the words that sound like, “ I’m here for you” and back them up.
6. Emotional and mental health it’s never been easier to get mental health care. Take the time to preemptively connect with a professional online. Monthly family “check ups” from a third party are a strong way to insure you’re all doing well.