HOUSTON – One in eight kids is estimated to be suffering from anxiety.
Anxiety can often interfere with emotional and academic development.
Dr. Hayley Stulmaker said since she started her practice, anxiety in kids has been on the rise.
“That’s what I did my research on was interventions for kids with anxiety and saw that it was just becoming so much more prevalent like the research was showing that and it’s even increased since then, which in some ways is unfathomable that it keeps getting so bad,” Dr. Stulmaker explained.
Signs that your child may be suffering include:
- Stomach aches
- Headaches
- Trouble sleeping
“A lot of like, kind of nervous habits, like picking nails, nail-biting, pulling out hair. Those types of things tend to be like more physical manifestations of anxiety for some kids,” she said.
Why the rise in anxiety?
Many mental health professionals argue this has been a long time coming, avoiding putting blame on the pandemic. Although, many are quick to point the finger at social media sites and other unrealistic pressures on kids today.
“I think there’s a lot of things that are contributing to that,” Stulmaker explained. “I think that even parents just talking about [events on the news], that being kind of out there, even having to do preventative measures sometimes in schools because of things that have happened. I think that just kind of exposure is one reason, and I think that in some ways the world is scarier for kids now. I think there’s more pressure in schools to perform.
“You know, with student testing, I know that that’s been around also for a while but I think that that’s something that is continuing to pick up and cause stress for kids. Then just kind of events around the world. I think kids are hearing about them at younger ages and that they are having to try to find ways to cope, especially when things aren’t really developmentally appropriate for them to know about and have to face.”
How can you help?
She says if you’re addressing a specific fear your child is anxious about, like a school shooting, here’s what you can do to help.
“It’s really challenging because you don’t want to give this false sense of security when we know that the reality is that there is some risk now in schools,” Stulmaker said. “So, there’s no way to know, is your child really safe? But I think that it also isn’t helpful to just tell children, yes, freak out and panic ... I’m trying to find a balance. I think, understanding a child’s developmental age and how they’re really understanding what’s happening and being able to address that in that way is important. And being able to give facts while also providing comfort. And so saying things like, ‘you know, yes, you have these intruder drills and so those feel really scary and the reason that those are there is because, we want to make sure that you’re safe’... It feels scary. It likely won’t happen. And you know what to do so that you’re prepared.”
For all kids, the one thing that remains true is parents should be factual, remain calm, but don’t overshare.
“Sometimes parents overshare. They think that kids need all of the details, especially as information is happening or stories are breaking. That’s when I find that that’s the most problematic is a lot of just giving of details, especially when it’s not really known as far as what’s happening and so that can provide a lot of fear for children or can make children really fearful because of the ambiguity that’s going on,” Stulmaker said.
Give simple facts, remain calm and provide comfort.
General anxiety may be something your child will always deal with.
“It’s not something that just goes away because anxiety is actually an adaptive emotion that we all feel that keeps us safe,” she said. “If everybody just didn’t have any fear or anxiety, like we would all be dead, we would do really stupid things.”