kids emotional and mental health during COVID-19

How To Support Your Child’s Emotional Wellbeing During COVID-19?

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been too widespread than we could ever imagine. The pandemic has brought about a huge change in the way we lived. While most adults are still struggling to cope with the drastic change, the kids are finding it even more difficult to understand what is happening.

Children are vulnerable to mental stress and insecurity during this phase of crisis. Your kids may also have many questions – some unanswered – in their mind. This may make them anxious and affect their mental and emotional well-being.

Hence, there is a need to understand the possible impact of this pandemic on kids’ mental health and find ways to support their emotional well-being. Read on to know the best ways to help your chile avoid anxiety and feel at ease during this challenging phase.

Effective ways to support your kids’ mental health

Calm is contagious

Controlling your own fears and anxieties is essential to ensure your child does not feel nervous. The mood of parents is highly contagious to their kids. Children can gauge their parent's moods by observing their facial expressions and the tone in their voice. Hence, it's important for parents to stay calm so that the positive feelings seep into the minds of their kids. Maintain a normal or calm tone while talking to them. Be positive. Think positive. Feel positive. This would help you as well as your kids to stay strong and improve their emotional well-being.

Share information

Withholding facts and information can be more stressful for kids. Children often rely on their imagination when they do not have adequate information. They tend to conceive wrong ideas that can worsen their anxiety and make them feel insecure. Hence, it is advisable to share age-appropriate information with your child so that he has his facts cleared. You should also make yourself available for your kids to discuss their concerns. You can explain in simple language what this pandemic means to them, its possible impact, and how they can protect themselves. Sharing age-appropriate information will allow your kids to get a clear picture of the situation and help them avoid undue anxiety. However, it might be a good idea to avoid discussing the adversities related to COVID-19 including the risk of mortality with and in front of kids.

Social distancing and not social isolation.

Though social distancing has become a necessity to protect yourself against COVID-19, it should not turn into social isolation. Allow your child to interact with others including his friends and relatives through phone calls or video calls. Social connectedness would improve your kid’s ability to show resilience to adversity. You can choose creative ways to help your child stay connected with others such as writing emails and letters or sending cards. Encourage your family to send letters to your kid as well. I am sure these cards and letters would offer pleasant memories for your kid that he will cherish even after the pandemic is over.

Time for ‘Family Time’

There is another issue kids are facing during this pandemic. It has got them disconnected not just from the world but also left them alone at home due to the parent’s busy schedule. If both you and your spouse are working, your kids may feel alone even at home. This is why; there is a need to redefine your ‘family time’. Make sure you set aside a particular time of the day when you, your spouse and your kids can spend quality time together. You can simply talk to each other, discuss what you did on the day, share your feelings, or play games during this time. This family time, even if it is short, say an hour, will help your kid feel close to you and avoid the feeling of being alone.

Re-assure your child

You must re-assure your child about his safety as well as the safety of his loved ones to help him avoid anxiety. Frequent interactions with your child and sharing with him the information you learned recently could help you gain his trust. It would assure your child they know EVERYTHING and that there are no imminent threats to their safety. This assurance can play a great role in supporting your child’s emotional well-being.

Emphasize hope

Kids need to feel safe and secure about their present and future. You can instill a sense of optimism in your child by telling stories with good social values, morals, and positive outcomes. You can also emphasize hope by telling how people can come together and find creative solutions to overcome adversities during this pandemic. Talking about these stories could produce a natural healing effect on your kid’s disturbed mind. It will help him feel hopeful and secure about the present and future.

Keep them busy

Nothing works better to improve your child’s emotional health than keeping him busy. When kids are bored, they become restless and engage in disruptive behaviors. Keeping them busy in creative and productive activities such as reading books, craft, and art will divert their mind. However, with one or both the parents working from home, it can get a bit difficult for you to spend time with them for these activities. It can also be a challenge to match your work schedule with that of your kid to have some free time together. However, you can still engage your kids in activities to keep them busy. You can get them signed up for online music, art, or dance classes or encourage them to pursue hobbies. You can monitor them once in a while during your work hours. This will also help you feel at ease knowing your kids are enjoying themselves with creative activities. Keeping them engaged with these activities will not just reduce their anxiety about COVID-19 but also help to develop their skills and overall personality.

Maintain routine

One of the best ways to let your child know things are under control is to follow a healthy routine. Generally, it is advisable to stick to the same routine you followed before the pandemic began. For example; make sure you and your child get up at the same time you did earlier to prepare for school and office. This will minimize the impact of the pandemic on your lifestyle and help your child develop a sense of ‘normalcy’.

Sleep well

Online classes have become a necessity to help children continue their education. However, this also means relief from the morning rush hours or waking up early to get ready for school. But, not having to rush off to school doesn't mean your child can sleep late. Make sure your child goes to the bed before 9 pm or at the time he used to sleep earlier. Maintaining a regular sleep-wake schedule will set the biological clock of your child’s mind and body and help him feel fresh and alert all day long This will help him avoid drowsiness, restlessness, and anxiety during the daytime and promote his emotional health.

Seek professional help

In case your child shows signs of intense anxiety with severe emotional and behavioral changes, seek the advice of a doctor. Medical intervention may be essential in such cases to prevent the development of serious mental health issues. You can consult a psychiatrist via “telehealth” if an in-person visit to a doctor is restricted.

It is not the time to stress yourself thinking how and when the adverse situation created by COVID-19 would improve. We should, instead, try to turn this crisis into an opportunity to bond with our family, especially kids.

Spending time with kids, interacting with them more frequently, and allying their anxiety with honest and clear answers are the keys to sailing through this phase.

The tide will surely be over, though it may take some time. Until then, you can follow the strategies discussed above to improve the emotional well-being of your kids and help them feel at ease.