HUNTER parents concerned their children are experiencing anxiety that requires intervention should be aware there can be a range of signs, from physical symptoms such as bellyaches to increased aggression or apathy, lack of energy and changes to sleep and food intake.
That's the advice from parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson, who the Federation of Parents and Friends Associations in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has booked to present two free 90 minute Zoom sessions this week about anxiety and resilience, for parents and carers of children at Catholic schools.
"Anxiety is a fear or apprehension or worry about an unspecified, low likelihood but potential negative event in the future, it's normal, it's natural, it's healthy - until it starts to become dysfunctional," Dr Coulson said.
"Anxiety is not something to be mocked or turn your nose up at and say 'It's soft weak people', there's good evidence that anxiety is a really serious problem and it's not something to be minimised or waved away."
Dr Coulson will speak about the difference between feeling anxious and receiving a diagnosis of the clinical disorder of anxiety, as well as strategies to help children when they are feeling anxious.
"There's all kinds of things we can do, whether it's remembering to breathe, going for a walk just stepping outside in nature, connecting with someone, being physical or active, creating what we call psychological distance or self distance, reframing the anxiety, just pushing through it and doing the hard thing.
"But also having the discernment to recognise that sometimes we don't need to tell our kids to toughen up and push through it, sometimes what's going on is actually really serious and it deserves a really serious response."
Dr Coulson said data had shown anxiety and mood disorders were on the rise and had been "exacerbated because of - or in line with - COVID-19 restrictions, lockdowns and the impact that's had on people's lives".
"We're seeing younger and younger children being diagnosed with anxiety and the prevalence and incidence of anxiety are also on the rise at every age group, there's no age or stage that's immune from this general trend."
He said the increase was due to more awareness about anxiety and help-seeking, as well as environmental factors including COVID-19 lockdowns, additional pressures tied to schooling, society becoming less comfortable with unpredictability and uncertainty and changing parenting styles, with a "strong relationship between control and anxiety".
He said more than 50 per cent of all adult mental illness had roots in childhood or adolescence.
"It's critical that we equip our children with the cognitive skills, the thinking skills, the resilience skills to understand what they're experiencing and to navigate that experience in functional ways, in ways that actually lead to growth and development rather than falling in a heap and crying."
The session about primary students will be at 6.30pm on Wednesday August 31 and the session about secondary students at 6.30pm on Thursday September 1. Registration: mnnews.today
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