3 Things You Can Do If You Suspect Your Child Is Suffering From Anxiety and/or Depression.

A recent study by JAMA Pediatrics (Journal of American Medical Association) reported that between 2016 and 2020, youth anxiety increased a 29% in the United States.

How Can I Show Support To Someone Suffering From Anxiety? 

If you are a mother or a father who wants to better understand your child, it could be beneficial to know (and perhaps share with them) that we have a national organization called Anxiety and Depression Association of America, that reveals the current distressed state of our fellow citizens. They claim that:

• Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health condition in our country. 
• Women are twice as likely to be affected by anxiety disorders than men.
• Girls between the ages of 10 and 18 are more prone to anxiety disorders, most presumably because of hormonal changes. 

“Statistics are people with tears wiped away”

Dr. Margo

Is Your Child Part Of These Statistics?

If you have never talked to your child about it, now is the time.

Here are 3 tips to help calm your child’s anxiety and/or deal with depression.

• Listen

This is the part where your child talks and the parent listens. Here is where you can ask questions that can allow the person to process what is going on inside them, things they may not even recognize that are weighing them down. During this time, we can leave lectures, criticisms, and correction out of the room. This way you can provide a safe place that can lead to a compassionate space for your child to vent and express. 

You can use some of the questions attached here that can help motivate the conversation on what is making your child feel anxious. The author of this article offers a book called: Let’s Talk: Conversation Starters for Dads and Daughters and the link to purchase it — https://amzn.to/3fDAhZd

• Hug.

Especially during stressful times, finding a way to give your child hugs so they feel wrapped in your safe arms when overwhelming times are presents is a wonderful way to create this compassionate space. This action is also backed up by many research articles, which states that when we give or receive a hug it releases oxytocin in our brains, an antidote to the effect of cortisol, the stress hormone. 

• Write:

Quick story: In a counseling session an adult woman read a love note her dad wrote her when she was in college, and it brought tears to her eyes as she read it. This story is even more powerful because she lost him only a few months ago. Now his written words carry even more meaning. The smile on her face shined brighter as she held her dads’ words in her hands. 

Take time today to put your love into written form (a text is great, but a note in your handwriting is even better) to let your loved ones know you care, you are praying for them, and believing in them.

Author: Dr. Michele Watson Canfeld

Edited By: TLC Intern Valentina Stanley