In
stressful times like these, it’s easier than ever to be distracted from your
child’s mental health. Learn what to look for that indicates that your child
may be having programs.
Maybe you
thought the stress of the past 18 months would lessen as we near the holiday season? Sadly,
no. Few would disagree there’s actually been a recent upping of anxiety, with a
contentious, unprecedentedly strange, unpredictable, and protracted election on
top of rising Covid-19 numbers, all when kids have recently returned to school,
which is wildly different than it ever has been. And that’s just for starters.
As parents, we inevitably ask: how is the insanity affecting my kids and what
can I do about it?
READ MORE: Ways to support your kids emotionally in the pandemic
Let us
direct you to New York Times reporter
Christina Caron’s article advising parents on how,
exactly, to head off stress in kids before it gets to a crisis stage and how to
deal with it if and when it gets there anyway.
Caron
interviews Dr. Carol Weitzman, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and the
co-director of the Autism Spectrum Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, who
helpfully says, “Even in the midst of very trying times, there are ways to
promote resilience, and families can do that.”
What to
look for?
- Your younger child shows a regression of skills
- You child fixates on
stories about monsters, changes eating habits, or has trouble sleeping and/or
repeatedly experiences nightmares.
- Your teen rages, talks badly about
themselves, avoids friends, sleeps too little or too much.
What to
do?
Ask them what’s on their mind. If they need routine, make it stricter. If
they need less, been even more easygoing. Especially regarding teens, don’t let
them drive you away. They will try. And finally, you may need to let them sit
with their bad feelings and simply validate and witness. That may feel like
you’re doing nothing, but you are doing quite a lot.
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