'AN ANXIOUS CHILD ISN'T JUST BEING DIFFICULT OR NAUGHTY'
FOR some kids the start of the new school year is no big deal. They’re disappointed that the holiday is coming to an end and that it’s time for textbooks and timetables again. Some may even be excited.
Then there are the children who are dreading it. Not just feeling a little nervous about a new teacher, grade or even school, but real anxiety. The kind that has their parents steeling themselves to deal with the tears and sore tummies they know are coming.
The pandemic hasn’t helped matters. Research published in the Journal of American Medicine: Paediatrics states that rates of depression and anxiety in children around the world have doubled since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The number of children with anxiety symptoms has increased from 11,6% to 20% over the past two and a half years, “possibly because of the ongoing effect of social isolation, family financial stressors, missed milestones and school disruptions”.
