Jun 05, 2020
Many children have fears and worries, and may feel sad and hopeless from time to time, especially during these uncertain times. Joining us this week on House Call is Dr. Michael Hess, family medicine physician at Pinewood Medical Center in Grafton.
1) For parents and guardians watching tonight, what are some signs of anxiety they can watch for concerning their children?
When a child does not outgrow the fears and worries that are typical in young children, or when there are so many fears and worries that they interfere with school, home, or play activities, the child may be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Here are some examples of different types of anxiety disorders:
- Being very afraid when away from parents (separation anxiety)
- Having extreme fear about a specific thing or situation, such as snakes, insects, or going to the doctor (phobias)
- Being very afraid of school and other places where there are people (social anxiety)
- Being very worried about the future and about bad things happening (general anxiety)
- Having repeated episodes of sudden, unexpected, intense fear that come with symptoms like heart pounding, having trouble breathing, or feeling dizzy, shaky, or sweaty (panic disorder)
Anxiety may present as fear or worry, but can also make children irritable and angry. Anxiety symptoms can also include trouble sleeping, as well as physical symptoms like stomachaches, headaches or fatigue. Some anxious children keep their worries to themselves and, thus, the symptoms can be missed.
2) Does anxiety turn into depression?
Feelings of sadness is a part of every child’s life. However, some children feel sad to the point of becoming uninterested in things that they used to enjoy. They may feel helpless or hopeless in situations they feel they are unable to change. When children feel persistent sadness and hopelessness, they may be diagnosed with depression.
Here are some examples of behaviors often seen in children with depression, which include:
- Feeling sad, hopeless, or irritable a lot of the time
- Not wanting to do or enjoy doing fun things they really enjoyed in the past
- Showing changes in eating patterns – eating a lot more or a lot less than usual
- Showing changes in sleep patterns – sleeping a lot more or a lot less than normal
- Showing changes in energy – being tired and sluggish or tense and restless a lot of the time
- Having a hard time paying attention
- Feeling worthless, useless, or guilty
- Showing self-injury and self-destructive behavior
Extreme depression can lead a child to think about suicide or plan for suicide. For youth ages 10-24 years, suicide is among the leading causes of death. If You Know Someone in Crisis call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The deaf and hard of hearing can contact the Lifeline via TTY at 1-800-799-4889. All calls are confidential. Contact social media outlets directly if you are concerned about a friend’s social media updates or dial 911 in an emergency.
3) What should parents do to help their children cope during these uncertain times?
Children look to their parents for cues on how to relate to their world. When parents are highly stressed, their children feel stressed. Coronavirus can scare children now, which could create emotional problems for months or even years to come. If a child feels overwhelmed by a continual flow of sad or scary news, they don’t understand it leads to confusion about how the world as they know it has changed. This is especially troubling with young children who don’t have the life experience or vocabulary to tell the adults in their life what hurts. Talking about emotions is essential for mental health. Think of the wisdom given by Mister Rogers to children, When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting and less scary.”
Bottled emotions do not go away; they either blow in toward emotional fears, or blow up into angry or acting out behavior. In older children, these fears can lead to anxiety, depression or self-destructive behaviors like drugs, alcohol or even suicide. COVID-19 will go away. The Centers for Disease Control or World Health Organization will eventually find a vaccine, but untreated psychological damage will not go away and could go on for years. Parents and teachers need to know what to do to prevent that from happening now. Here is the first challenge.
This content was originally posted on the WDTV News website here.
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