COVID-19: 6 Important Tips To Deal With Anxiety In Your Children During Isolation

Almost the whole world is now in lockdown due to coronavirus a.k.a COVID-19. Schools and colleges are closed, the markets have been shut down and hundreds of thousands are isolating themselves at home to stay safe.

This can have a severe effect on one’s mental health, specially children. Here are some helpful tips to deal with children and their mounting anxiety amid the COVID-19 outbreak and consequent lockdowns.

1. Be honest with yourself and your kids.

It’s always best to explain to a child why things are the way they are. Explain to them what the plan is going to be going forward.

Be honest with them but don’t make it sound like the world is ending. It’s better to accept that you don’t know instead of being wrong and lying to them.

2. Children see, children do. Try to stay calm and radiate positive energy.

Your kid will get anxious and hyper if you’re acting unsettled.

Try to stay calm and maintain an open relationship with your child. Take care of your own mental health first so you can look after your children better.

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3. Maintain normalcy

Now that the kids are not going to school and you have to work from home, try to keep a state of normalcy within the house. Wake your kids up in the morning, prepare breakfast and give them small tasks. They can be fun quizzes, riddles or something which helps in keeping them active. You and your significant other can take turns in looking after the kids, while the other is working.

4. Move around the house

It’s important that you don’t sit around all day, doing nothing. Engage yourself and your kids in some physical activities.

If you can afford or have the space for it, buy a small trampoline or skipping ropes to maintain your child’s physical health.

Don’t let them sulk around all day, make them do chores around the house; don’t overdo it though.

5. Don’t disregard your child’s feelings and worries

Many students, specially college and university students are back home, away from their social community and everything’s on high alert. Many seniors might not graduate this term which is a huge loss for them.

For those with preexisting mental health issues, it is highly important that you don’t dismiss their grief and let them know that you know how they feel.

6. Don’t sweat over the small stuff during this testing time

Its okay if your child is going over their screen-time limit. It’s okay to put in an extra movie now and then. These are testing times for everyone so don’t try to control too much, be lenient and flexible with your kids.

Have more tips to ease anxiety in children amid the COVID-19 outbreak? Share them in the comments below!