Navigating the Impact of COVID-19 on Children's Mental Health

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The ongoing challenges of COVID-19 have significantly impacted children's mental well-being, leading to anxiety, trauma, and disrupted learning. Recovery will be a gradual process, requiring understanding and support from parents and educators. Addressing emotional needs alongside academics is crucial for children's overall development and resilience.

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Uploaded on Sep 22, 2024 | 0 Views

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COVID, ANXIETY & BEYOND WHAT TO EXPECT FROM Bette Levy Alkazian, LMFT www.BalancedParenting.com Facebook: Balanced Parenting IG: bette.parenting.guru HERE!

We have been through and continue to go through WWIII: At war with a virus LET S GET ON THE SAME PAGE FROM THE START At war with fellow community members At war politically & economically At war with social impacts Extreme weather At war with our mental health At war with each other at home difficult on relationships At war in our own heads

Their pre-pandemic school days fulfilled their needs in many ways we know and in many ways we don t know KIDS NEEDS HAVE NOT BEEN MET, FOR THE MOST PART, FOR 1.5 YEARS They were deprived of basic things they need to grow: Social interactions Multi-dimensional learning for the whole day Physical activity Many kids developed anxiety/depression (especially medical anxiety!) Others anxiety increased

RECOVERY WILL TAKE MUCH LONGER THAN IT TOOK TO DO THE DAMAGE What does recovery look like? The busier they are doing normal, healthy, physical things, the quicker they will feel better, though the adults in their lives need to remember that they are still not ok Any troubles that arise need to be seen through a lens of pandemic damage We don t know what the long-term effects will be

We have all been through a profound trauma We think we should be fine and able to handle it Our kids have also been through profound trauma TRAUMA Teachers don t know anything about trauma nor how to treat trauma Teachers have tall orders on their shoulders to get through this year s curriculum with many students who are 1 years behind academically

Make it your job to help your kids with their emotional lives and don t over focus on the academics I m sure teachers will say the opposite ;) Raise kids awareness about their emotional lives Normalize that what they have been through is ENORMOUS Normalize that everyone is struggling in their own ways Normalize that it will take a long time for them to feel ok again SOLUTIONS

WE TAKE OUR BROKEN PIECES AND FIND A WAY TO MAKE SOMETHING EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL

Going through hard things is often seen as a blessing in retrospect Hard things make us stronger Coming out on the other side of hard things makes us wiser Our kids should always be engaged in a hard thing (so should we!) GRIT Don t be afraid of your kids discomfort know that it is the best thing for them and it teaches them to tolerate the inevitable discomforts of life It can become a basic value that your family has and talks about often

Anxiety is a sneaky beast that disguises itself as so many other things Anger Meltdowns Overwhelm HELPING OUR KIDS WITH ANXIETY Defiance Tears Watch that your anxiety isn t bumping up against theirs! Psycho-education label it, normalize it, have tons of compassion, give them tools, tools, tools Anxiety is a LIAR! It only considers worst-case- scenarios

Breathing Exercise Healthy sleep and eating habits Losing yourself in a good book Music ANXIETY TOOLS Anything creative Laughter Nature Talk about pushing through Mindfulness senses Raise vagal tone cold dunk, singing, humming, deep breaths, etc

Avoid being critical or annoying Don t add to the pressure kids are already feeling (your reminders are pressure) Be mindful of your example how are you handling your anxiety? Did you know you have it, too? WHAT YOU CAN DO! Stay with compassion and curiosity and you ll never fail (but don t ask too many questions) Just be present Stay balanced and your child will be better able to self-regulate

Patience, patience, patience Look at things through a trauma-focused lens Compassion is your best parenting tool! WHERE DO WE GO FROM Be more curious not defensive or controlling Ensure that your kids feel SAFE, SEEN and SOOTHED in order to feel secure with you HERE? Make time to connect with your kids. If you re not feeling connected, ask yourself how you might be contributing to that (instead of blaming their behavior)

It will take some time to recover from this world war For your kids and for you, too We aren t out of the woods yet, life is still going to be uncertain in some ways for a while TIME Take breathing space for yourself Make time for self-care as a top priority Nourish your primary relationship When you and your relationship are good, your kids are more likely to be good!