mental health
Anxiety in children
on the
rise
Recent studies conducted internationally on over 80 000 children, have shown that depression and anxiety amongst children and young teenagers has increased by more than 25% since the start of the Covid-19 global pandemic – signalling a global health crisis in the youth.
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nxiety is a normal human emotion that everyone experiences at one time or another, for instance, when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or making a big decision. Anxiety disorders, however, are different. The distress they cause is so great that it interferes with a person’s ability to lead a normal life. “Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are seeing many more
clients with anxiety and anxiety disorders, the most alarming, however, are children as young as eight years of age,” says Kerry Rudman from Brain Harmonics, a Neurofeedback organisation specialising in retraining brains. “I am seeing children who are now experiencing fear of death, fear of being around people, as well as anxiety and loneliness around the loss of interaction with friends.”
Anxiety has no logic For people with anxiety disorders, worry and fear are constant and overwhelming, and can be crippling. Anxiety has no logic; you can tell yourself that the situation is ok but it’s really hard to stop the feeling of stress and anxiety in your body. It often builds up from your gut and makes your heart beat faster. Some people start sweating, you feel so uneasy and can’t calm the feeling. It’s very hard to engage with others while you are experiencing this. Children don’t always know what’s happening to them, they feel scared,
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nervous to engage with others, often stuttering to get words out, they often cry or even have a panic attack. Anxiety is often felt as a stomach ache. Symptoms of anxiety in children can also include: • finding it hard to concentrate; • not sleeping or waking in the night with bad dreams; • not eating properly; • quickly getting angry or irritable and being out of control during outbursts; • constantly worrying or having negative thoughts; and • feeling tense and fidgety, or using the toilet often. www.babysandbeyond.co.za